Sticks and Stones
by lunabasketcase
Summary: Bullying goes too far as 3 boys learn the class loser isn't as weak as he appears.When they fail to gain his trust and friendship they are only pulled further into his crazy world.This is a story of five dozen eggs,cage fighters,petitions for gay marriage
1. Things don't always go the way we plan

Everybody's got their problems  
Everybody says the same things to you  
It's just a matter how you solve them  
And knowing how to change the things you've been through  
–that ones for me and the reviewers of my last two stories!

**Hello! Glad I got your attention lets hope I can keep it….this is my 4th story if u haven't read my other stories some of the things I talk about in the authors note might not make a lot of sense. Also I tend to talk a lot about…um stuff that's important to me. My childhood wasn't too happy but it gives me a different perspective on things.But a lot of reviewers told me I helped them by writing these notes. So if you want to know a little about my life read the notes. If not go ahead and skip this part and please enjoy the story just the same.**

**But to my old readers! Whatzzzuuppp? Guess what! Im doing a lot better! I mean after what almost 10 years of trying to forget and move on with my life…who da thought all I had to do was write about it? So maybe I haven't "solved" my problems but ya know what? I feel a hell of a lot better!**

**So I want to keep writing. Don't make me get all mushy on you guys u know I loved/adored/worshiped ur reviews. They make me smile and laugh. So I'm trying another story. This one will be a little different from Angels and Asking it set in the most horrid, dreadful, repulsive place on earth that's right middle school! Where I personally believe children first begin lose their innocents. Oh I should warn you someone is going to find this insulting in fact I'm sure of it. My friends are a combination of people from different groups I love them so much and I won't change them for the world but…. I am going to pick on different types of cliquish groups but only to prove a point…and let me say ahead of time that one word should not define you. The person you are is not just a jock, goth, nerd, fatty, loser or any other word I may use. So try not to get too mad at me ok? I'm just trying to write a story**

**And in case this isn't obvious I really hated middle school…**

**Semi inspired by my life but also from my friend Faye-assasin**

**Summery:** **AU middle school fic. Bullying goes too far as 3 boys learn that the class loser is not as weak as he appears. When they fail to gain his trust and friendship they are only pulled further into his crazy mixed up world. This is a story of five dozen eggs, cage fighters, and petitions for gay marriage. It's about finding acceptance by letting people know the true you not just the person you try to appear as. And it's about realizing that just because you can't hear them doesn't mean the quiet ones don't have a voice. People who believe otherwise are fools.**

**Parings: Sasuke x Naruto slight Iruka x Kakashi. I'd like to say if u don't like don't read but most of my fics are based on friendship of the characters so give this story a chance. Im trying my best so please don't just dismiss it for the pairing**

Warning: boy friendly relationships, (Elton John said it the best "There's nothing wrong with going to bed with somebody of your own sex... People should be very free with sex - they should draw the line at goats.") Violence oh yes lots and lots of violence, and course language. Characters may be OCC …hey my story my way!

Disclaimer: I got yelled at for not putting one of these up last time. But seriously do u really think I'm the inventor of Naruto? Dude if this was true the series would have gone A LOT DIFFERENTLY starting with Naruto and Sasuke kiss. And also I would never have let Obito Uchiha die…I cried so hard at the scene where the rock and half his face and ahhh so horrible. So it's safe to say I have no financial gains by writing this story. Someone wrote this once but I can't remember who "I am not the owner of Naruto I simply uses them as puppets for my imagination and put them back in naughty positions"

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Sticks and Stones

Chapter 1- Things don't always turn out the way we plan

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The hardest battle you're ever going to fight  
...is the battle to just be you.

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"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!"

Are you sure about that?

Are you sure words are painless? That no one suffers because of ridicule over a name? What if those words were coupled with black eyes and bruises? What if no one ever tried to stop the names or tell you it wasn't true?

Because really, it's only a harmless child's game right?

It's not like he think about it at night, remembering their faces jeering and taunting him while curled around a blanket cocoon himself for safety. No it's not hurting anyone.

That's why no one stood up and said 'stop it.' I mean so what if the kid gets kicked around a little?

Better him then you right?

And look, its not like he's telling them to stop. It's his own fault really, for not sticking up for himself. Words are just words, they mean nothing in less you allow them to. If you think logically about it there will only be more problems if you interfere, it's better to just leave it alone and let it work out it self. Better to just ignore it.

"Words will never hurt me!"

Liar.

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Middle school is the turning point for children. They grow up and start to lose their baby fat but that's not the only thing that changes. Maybe it's the influence of their peers or the sudden change in atmosphere that causes new problems. Old friends are discarded like old toys for new and shiner ones.

Some girls take to wearing short skirts and low shirts. They covered their faces in glitter and heavy make-up as if they're true face was too ugly to show in public. Swarming in-groups of threes and fours; they spend their days complaining about high carbs, starting rumors and gossiping. Only taking time to glance over at the opposite sex to squeal in high-pitched tone.

Boys had their own routine, some became jocks struggling to reach their older teammates skill and ability in order to feel the acceptance of others even if it was only for used to win a game. The knowledge that this will later set them up high school popularity wise was enough to keep pushing for others acknowledge. Others choice the path of a misunderstood goth, blaming their problems on society and wearing only black as if they would burn if any other color touched their skin. They don headphone with heavy metal turned up so high so everyone could hear the guitar solo and a man screaming hate words within a 10-mile radius. The least favorable choice would be a nerd, to be completely absorbed in studies never taking the time to look over his book to interact with others. Of course there were others the loners, the outcasts, and shy ones who could barely say their own name without stuttering. Those that neither boy nor girl would dare befriend in fear of losing their statue.

But there was one boy who was different from the others. There was nothing special about the boy who wore the same over sized orange jacket zipped up to the top with scruffy jeans that appear to swallow his body. He never played any sports, no one ever heard him complain about the big business corrupting the young, and at the most his grades were average. He didn't have any friends and never flirted with the girls, in fact upon questioning no one had ever had ever heard the boy speak more then two words. In appearances he looked average, he was just a boy that didn't like to talk.

His only unique feature was the scars on his cheeks. Three horizontal lines on each cheek starting thin at the corner of his mouth and growing darker as it trailed up his cheekbone. It was just a part of him, after seeing the same lines everyday they seemed to disappears no one ever wondered if they were birthmarks or tattoo.

So even with his unique features the boy managed to blend in with the crowd, just another kid in the background of a school photo. Insignificant. Unimportant. Meaningless.

And maybe he would have been ignored if it weren't for his eyes. One look at those eyes a person would feel as though an ice cube had been dropped down their back. That said person would turn away from the boy's gaze and pretend not to notice that the boy's eyes were dead.

They were dull and emotionless never betraying a thought. He started at people with eyes half-closed as though he was heavily sedated. The fact that there was no emotion attached to whatever he was doing scared people because eyes tell more then a person wishes them too. Wide eyes are surprised, innocent, and naïve. While narrowed eyes show distrust and hatred. Eyes are meant to show the truth (the window to ones soul) so when people see a kid with no apparent emotion in their eyes it's a natural reaction to stay away and be frightful of the person.

Which was fine for the boy. He continued to come to school everyday, never speaking to anyone and would sit in the farthest corner of the classroom out of sight just as he had always done. And this solitary life would have been fine for him because he could wait. Time would go by and he knew eventually things would change all he had to do was wait it out. But things don't always turn out they way we plan.

This is a story of five dozen eggs, cage fighters, and petitions for gay marriage. It's about finding acceptance by letting people knows the true you not just the person you try to appear as.

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Heh I finished the first chapter! Its just an intro ill get to the real story next chapter.ya! im so excited!Cuz ya know what? People say u should write what you know. And I know bullying. I know exactly what it feels like, like getting the shit beat out of you, being ignored when u really need help, and the aftereffects of it all. I know all these things and more so why not write about it? Give people a new view on life. Cuz I know I see things from different angles and just as I know life can suck sometimes it only changes when u change. There always going to be the type of people who don't care what happens to you but at the same time who cares? It's pointless to worry about what people think of you cuz in the end how much do their opinions mean? The people who are there for you right now and generally care about what happens to you. That's what really counts.

And on that note…if find u don't like my story and have the urge to flame me…u can kiss my ass. Like I could give a shit. While its great that people can form their own opinions ill just ignore any mean comments, so u'd be wasting your time trying. I'm going to keep writing what I want cuz it makes me happy and if u have a problem with my happiness then please stop reading my story.

Peace

Gene


	2. We're on the highway to hell

**Guess what I built a fort in my room! It's really cool! I'm almost living in there cuz I brought snacks and food under with me, I used pillows and blankets so it like crawling in a tunnel! And all my readers and reviwers are invited inside! Come on bring flashlights cuz mines running out of batteries my mom said I should just turn on the lights….Duh I cant do that! It would ruin the whole point!**

**So while I was writing this chapter I remembered one event that makes me smile a long time ago. One time this girl was fighting with me and she was really being a bitch by pulling my hair. So I did something really smart, I pulled my head back and started pulling with my neck basically trying to rip my own hair out. (I know that sounds stupid but it got good results). The girl was so surprised that she almost let go she started yelling at me asking what the hell I was doing and I told her simply "I can take this pain. How long can you handle it?" DUDE I was so cool! The girl was so stunned she let go of my hair and never bothered me again. Thou it might be because she thought I was a freak but it doesn't really matter, it's a good memory**

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**Sticks and Stones**

**Chapter 2-**We're on the highway to hell

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I get knocked down! But I get up again  
You're never going to keep me down

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"**Watch were your going freak!"**

For every group there is a reject of said group.

"**What's wrong fag can't get up?"**

Those that are different from their friends because there is something about them that separate them from others.

"**Look at me when I'm talking to you fucking piece of shit!"**

Different for many reasons. Stupid weird reasons but true nonetheless.

"**Fucking weakling what the hell is the matter then you?"**

Lets say a kid who plays sports but is overweight. Sure he is accepted by his teammates on the field because his weight is an advantage. Opponents were intimated just by his sheer size alone but off the field he is scorned for his weakness that fact that there is more fat tissues then necessary is laughed at. Fat seems to have a collection of other names as well such as stupid, ugly, and clumsy.

"**Aww your not going to cry are you?"**

Or the genius of the school. He never had to work for his grades and never paid any attention during school. It was rumored that all he had to do was glance at the notes on the board and have it photogenticly memorized in his head. So instead of studying he would spend most of the day sleeping and being lazy. His friends slowly began to hate him for the fact that no matter how hard they studied they could never maintain his high IQ. They forget the good times, they shared the tears they shed over pain and happiness and soon they stop including him in their activities. They willingly forfeit these memories and friendship over envy. Soon the boy is a shadow of his former self.

"**Worthless piece of crap you're not even worth my time."**

The misunderstood goth? Anti-social yet loved by everyone? His cool demeanor as he ignores people only causes them to crave his attention. There lies the question 'why doesn't he hang out with his type?' In simplest terms he hates anyone who reminds him of himself or at least people who try to act like him. In short his life sucked there was no denying that. When you're rich dad is forced into marrying your impregnated stripper mom life tends to suck. Throw in an older half brother who is better then you in every single way and you have officially been handed a membership to hell. So while some people used their past as a clutch to gain sympathies from others this boy was determined to avoid anyone who even resembled him.

These boys no matter how different they were from each other had one common quality. They were alone. Alone by choice or alone by ozstrazation it did not matter because the feeling of loneliness is always the same. Always that constant feeling of solitary, that no one could see or hear you, that your existence had little importance. For that reason, these three became friends and sought a common interested. Only the feeling of acceptance can distract you from your own pain grief and by finding someone else who is worse off. But it also is the true reason behind bullying.

When you're your caught up in a whirlwind of problem the only way to cure yourself is to stand in the middle of something you can't control and lose yourself.

They found it in a young boy with dead eyes and whiskered cheeks.

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Inside the boy's bathroom laughter could be heard, a million students could walk past that door but never enter inside. No one want to interrupt what was going on so they keep walking, avoiding eye contact with each other for they were too ashamed to admitt what was really going onthat closed door.

Inside Chouji and Shikamaru held the blond boy's hands behind his back and forced him on his knees closer to the toilet. Sasuke laughed when the boy squirmed slightly as he grabbed blond hair and pressed the boy's face into the dirty water and used the other hand to flush the toilet. Tightening his grip on the blond locks he let the boy come up for air. The boy coughed and spit up the filthy water, he breathed heavily and turned his head slightly and locked eyes with his tormentor. Sasuke felt his blood run cold as the boy stared at him with indifferent eyes, water dripped from his bangs onto his orange jacket. Still no reaction.

Chouji and Shikamaru release their hold on the boy as Sasuke yanked him by the hair to his feet. He pressed the smaller boy against the wall and smirked "If you want me to stop say please"

The blond boy continued to stare at the taller boy, silent to the grave. Sasuke felt his rage coil in his chest as the boy gave no response, he clenched his fist and drove it into the blond boy's stomach. "Say please you little fucker!" The impact of the fist causes the younger boy to grunt in pain curl his body into the punch as a reflex. His wet forehead pressed lightly against Sasuke's shoulders as he poorly attempted to breathe air in his noes. Sasuke pushed him away in disgust and watched as the boy crumbled to the ground. After a moment Sasuke wasn't surprised as the boy stood back up after a second and faced him again with no words and lifeless eyes waiting for him.

That boy always got back up no matter what.

Sasuke slammed his fist into the boy's jaw and watched in satiation as the blond boy stumbled tripping over his own feet and fall backwards. Sasuke could feel a sight joy as an imprint of his ring was stamped on the boy's face. It gave him something else to look at besides those unresponsive blue eyes.

Chouji stepped out from behind his gothic friend and aimed a kick towards the boy's abdomen, the impact forced all the air out of the boy's lungs leaving him on the ground clutching his bruised stomach in pain. After a moment they watched as he pushed himself into a sitting position and then stood back up on shaky legs.

No matter what he would stand up and wait for them.

Shikamaru grabbed him forcefully by the sleeve and the blond boy followed obediently letting him self be led outside the bathroom. They huddled around him in a group still making side comments to him, insults and taunts trying to get a rise out of him but the boy still would not talk. Sasuke glanced over and saw the boy wasn't even paying attention to his bullies, instead he was watching the people who passed by them. He saw the blond's cold eyes glance at the students and seem as if he was waiting but no one returned his gaze instead they seemed to be looking everywhere except at the group. Sasuke watched as the blond eyes cast downward as fellow students ignored the bullying. Whatever he had been waiting for never came.

The group made their way outside and to the garbage dumpster that sat by the side of the building almost hidden in the school shadow. Shikamaru knocked the boy down and quickly grabbed his upper arm. Chouji understood his friend's brilliant plan and reached down before the boy could figure out what was going on to pick him up by his ankles. Sasuke stood off to the side grinning as they maneuvered themselves closer the garbage, he began the count down.

"3. 2. 1-Heave!"

But they had not counted on the fact that while Chouji upper body strength could easily lift the blond's legs over the five foot dumpster, Shikamaru lack of strength and laziness caused his fingers to slip at the last moment. Failing to bring the boy's torso and head over the edge, which resulted in the blond boy's forehead colliding against the rim with a loud 'thunk'.

Sasuke felt his heart freeze. His mind took a few seconds to catch up before he began cursing under his breath. '_Ohshitohshitoshit' _he quickly pushed himself up onto the ledge gagging slightly when the scent of decayed food hit his nose.

Blank eyes stared back at him as a steady droplet of blood was crawling down his forehead. Sasuke's eyes traveled down the boy's body checking for any other damage, he silently noting the little pieces of old lettuce and rotten fruit the boy was sitting in. His bright orange shirt had come slightly undone revealing a black shirt with a piece of red stripe peeking out. The sleeve was stained with red spaghetti sauce and some other food particle Sasuke could not name was tangled in the boy's sun-kissed hair. Sasuke could feel his stomach churn as he saw the boy's fingers curled into fist clutching the week old trash. His eyes traveled upward locked with the boy's eyes again. Sasuke felt his chest tighten.

Although the boy was almost shrouded in shadow his eyes stood out from the darkness glaring at Sasuke. Eyes that were no longer blank and dull but narrowed into tiny slits and slightly darker then before. The droplet of blood had become a river of red as a steady flow ran over his lips and down his chine. The boy did not move to wipe the blood, only stared at the raven hair boy in front of him with eyes sharp enough to pierce his soul. Sasuke found himself mesmerized by the sheer intensive of emotion reflected in them. Sasuke trying to remember the boy's name, what was it again? For the life of he couldn't place a name on the boy.

Sasuke swallowed hard as he watched the droplet of blood drip from the boy's chine onto his clenched hand. Even though the color was red the effect made it look like the blue eyed boy was crying blood. But that was wrong, Sasuke mentally scowled himself, even when they had punched him straight in the jaw the boy's eyes never so much as teared up.

Sasuke Uchiha had an urge. One that he had never had before, never needed to have. The words were caught in the back of his throat pushing their way onto his tongue. He wanted to say it, he knew he should but something was holding him back. He swallowed thickly to compose himself and the guilt, shame and words quickly dissolved leaving only a bitter taste

'_I'm sorry'_

A smirk crept on to his face as he reached upward and grabbed the metal lid. "Trash belongs in the trash" was the last thing he said before slamming the garbage prison close

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"Naruto Uzumaki! Why are you late?"

Sasuke felt a nudge from his side and looked over to see Shikamaru nodding towards the front. In front of the class stood the blond hair boy with his orange jacket in one hand and his back towards the classes so no one could see his face. After a brief moment the teacher signed tiredly at the close-mouthed boy and told him to take a seat and that he was to report to detention after school.

The orange jacket was balled up under his right elbow, to conceal the scent of rotting vegetables. The classes was finally able to see the long sleeved black shirt that always peeked beneath his orange jacket, it had a dark red spiral in the center. Naruto moved silently walked between the aisles avoiding eye contact.

Sasuke, Shikamaru and Chouji gave each other a knowing smile. Staying a few extra hours for their favorite target would be nothing. They would wait.

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In the courtyard they stood waiting for the boy by the only exit in the school. The boy kept his eyes to the ground as he slowly walked past his bullies. When he was a few steps ahead they began trailing behind in his footsteps. They waited until the gates to the school were only a few steps away before speaking up.

Five steps away

"Hey freak! Where're you going?"

Four steps away

"What's a matter? Too scared to turn around?"

Three steps away

"You can't run to the teachers now can you?"

Two steps away

"Hey! We're talking to you faggot!

One step away

"Come on Naruto don't you want to play with us?"

Naruto suddenly stopped short cause the three boys to unexpectedly crash into his back. The smaller boy did not turn around as he felt the bodies collide with him. Instead he let out a tiny chuckle barely illegible.

"So you want to play?" the voice was rough as if it was not used often.

Sasuke, Chouji and Shikamaru instantly took a step back to distance themselves from the snickering boy.

Naruto spun around on the ball of his foot, he firmly planted his feet shoulders with apart and bent slightly at the waist. His eyes no longer held the dull half-seduced look to them. Now they were alive, glistening with excitement and energy. The dazzling blue eyes darted quickly over their faces while smiling up at the three boys.

"Then let's play."

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Hey do I have any artist out there? Do you think you could draw the picture of Naruto in the Dumpster for me? I wish I could draw something, I have the clearest picture in my head what that scene would look like but DAMN THESE HANDS! They're only good for typing not sketching. :( so ya if you can could u draw it for me pretty please! Ill post it in the next chapter and everything!

Ok so anyway…O man I made Sasuke, Chouji and Shikamaru so mean! Lol sry they have to be slightly evil for this plot to work! Don't worry as u can see that in the next chapter Naruto is so going to kick their ass!

Anyway here is some fun facts-

1)Swirlies suck! Your whole head gets wet and u start freaking out cuz u think there not going to let you back up and when they finally do your mouth taste like shit all day long and …ugg you get the picture who ever invented swiralies is going to hell

2)Getting hit with a ring hurts a hell of a lot more then with a fist! And they leave huge ass bruises. Even now when I see someone wearing one of those huge embroided rings I think 'well shit….don't get in a fight with that person'

3)My personal belief- strength is not determined how hard you can hit someone but how many times you can get up after being hit. Therefore this chapter was created and the right quotes were used.

4)When you don't know someone's name it easier to hit them. When that person has an identify it means they are real, and have a real life full of friends and family. Knowing someone's name makes it harder to fight him or her. As long as there nameless then they are not real.

5)Hahahheheehhooo 'trash belong in the trash' so fucken funny ASSHOLES!….um I never got over that one as you can see…hi?

6)I fully believe in happy endings! We all know life can suck and be full of a lot of pain but there is always a happy ending. But if you haven't found your happy ending yet that just means your stories not over!

7)…..i like list

Peace

gene


	3. Cruel to be kind

Holy crap im so happy right now! Just bought some (illegal) fireworks! O manmanman! Yes I shall set them off with a bing and a boom! Ekk can't wait! Fireworks! So by far…may favorite chapter to write! Ya I had waaay too much fun with this one. In my head i was mentally cheering naruto on…oh yes im a sad creature…shut up. OK its come to my attention that I can't spell for shit….im truly sorry my lovely reviewers but spelling has always been a weak point for me, kinda sucks see how I want to be a writer and all. Please understand, im writing these chapters around 12:00-3:00 in the morning supplying energy from pepsi and big red gum and /or egg rolls…why? Because this lovely combination of food (that balances the food pyramid) is the source of my success! So I was wondering if anyone wanted be my beta reader…..if not its fine but then u shall suffer from my poor grammar. My family has this joke about me according to them I spell more creatively then I write …jerks! Also I promised to publicize this girls fics so here I go..

Please check out fastfoward fanfiction, they are amazing and she usually has 2 or 3 chapters up at a time. And she updates really quickly (unlike some writers grumblegrumble) …ok now I want my challenge! Don't forget im counting lol

Sticks and Stones

Chapter 3- Cruel to be kind

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I'm burning and I'm blacking my lungs  
Boy, you know it feels good with fire back on your tongue

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Naruto stood feet shoulders with apart smirking mischievously at the three boys in front of him. His eyes darted over their faces and he sarcastic grin grew wider causing the scars on his face to stretch across his cheeks. The three boys felt stunned over the quick change in the boy and began wonder if he could be bipolar. His eyes that were normally lifeless and dull shined brightly in amusement. As the silence grew between them Naruto began fidgeting in excitement, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. When he finally spoke his weak voice grew stronger and stronger at each word.

"Let's see what we have here." Naruto smirked as he began ticking off with his fingers. "The schools nerd, an emo kid, and a fat-ass. Wow I guess it's true, freak really do flock together"

Sasuke quickly found his voice and growled at the grinning boy. "What the fuck did you just say!"

Naruto turned his attention to Sasuke and narrowed slightly when he remembered the boy's words from before. "What are you deaf? That's must suck to be deaf and dumb, I mean what kind of loser wait two hours after school to terrorize a guy? Why don't you go home and write some crappy poems of how you hate the world and want to cut your wrist"

Sasuke was left speechless as his brain tried to refocus, no one ever snapped back at him, no one ever dared to insult him, and no one had ever looked at him with such fearless eyes before. The blond sighed and turned his face towards the darkening sky closing his eyelids for a moment before looking back at the teens with bored eyes. "Well this is a waste of time if all you can do is stare at me, I'm going home."

Chouji felt his anger rise as the smaller boy began walking away from the trio.

"Don't you turn your back on us!" He rushed over to grab a hold the blond by the shoulder only to feel a warm hand over lap his own. Before he could react another hand reached over and grabbed his upper arm pulling the heavy boy closer to his back and swinging him up and over the smaller boy's shoulders. Chouji gave out a startled yell as the world spun upside down for a moment before his body was slammed to the ground with a large sickening crunch.

For a moment Chouji stared at the sky in shock trying to understand what had just happened, he slowly began prying himself from the ground but found his body was unwilling to move from the pain. A shadow blocked his view of the blue sky as Naruto's cheerful smile came into view.

"Hmm so it is true, the fatter they are the harder they fall!"

Chouji let out a grounded of pain before closing his eyes to shut out the happy face grinning above him. Naruto frowned suddenly and he quickly spun around to catch an incoming punch. Naruto smirked at Sasuke surprised face, he quickly curled his fingers before slamming the heel of his hand into the raven boy nose. Sasuke howled in pain clutching his wounded face while blood dripped between the cracks of his fingers.

His blue eyes twinkled brightly reflecting his delight and amusement. A twisted smile stretched across his face "I'm sorry did that hurt?"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Sasuke screamed throwing another punch towards the smaller boy. Naruto caught Sasuke's inner arm with his wrist and pushed it forcefully to the side; he then drew back his remaining arm and punched Sasuke in the mouth. The impact caused Sasuke to stumble and fall helplessly to the ground. In a flash, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arms and crossed them over the boy's chest. He then pressed his knee against Sasuke's crossed arms to hold them in place, effectively paralyzing him in that position.

Naruto grinned down at the boy; his eyes held amusement and contained laughter "Hey here's an idea for you emo-freak. Stop being such a pain in the ass for the world. No one cares about your problems."

Sasuke began spiting out curses and struggled to rise up but he was pushed back down almost effortlessly as Naruto adjusted his hold on him.

Naruto stretched his arms above his head in a nonchalant attitude and then grinned down at the trapped boy. "Now what was it you called me before? I can't seem to remember." Naruto placed a finger on his chine in fake concentration, while Sasuke continued to squirm underneath him; his face began to turn an unusual color of red. "Was it queer? Or fag? It's on the tip of my tongue.

"You know what I think?" Sasuke stared in fright as Naruto leaned in closer, his mouth losing the smile and his azure eyes quickly became dark with anger "I think you don't have the balls to be a queer!" He raised his fist again intending to punch the gothic boy again, when a hand suddenly slipped around his neck and pulled him off Sasuke while trapping him in a headlock.

Shikamaru called out to his friends as Naruto struggled against his hold. "I got him!"

Naruto growled in annoyance and grabbed the hand that held his head; he bent his knees low to the ground and slipped from the boy's grip while twisting the wrist he held around the Shikamaru's back. Shikamaru yelled in pain, he could almost feel the blond boy smirked behind his back. Naruto reached into Shikamaru's pocket to bring out an unsharpened pencil and pressed it against the boy's neck directly below his ears.

Shikamaru gasped feeling the pencil dig into his neck, he tried vainly to think of a way to escape but could feel his mind slowing down and becoming numb.

"What? What's that? I can't hear you why don't you speak up a bit." Shikamaru wheezed as his movements were decelerate and sluggish. "Why that's right this is the Carroited Artery! You are smart aren't you? I bet you already know that this particular artery connects the blood flow to you brain." Naruto pressed the pencil tighter against the boy's neck. "I'm surprised you know so much even when I have you in a blood chock"

Shikamaru tried to speak again when suddenly the pressure disappeared allowing him to greedily suck in air. Shikamaru's knees gave out and he sank to the floor in relief. He looked up to see Chouji had pushed the boy into the street and was now trying to overpower him with force. Both of Chouji's fists were caught in Naruto's hands and he was leaning over trying to use his weight to overwhelm the boy. Surprisingly Naruto was holding up well, he smiled up at the taller boy, feet planted firmly not budging an inch.

Shikamaru tore his eyes from the two boys and looked to see that Sasuke was also on the ground engrossed in the fight. A flash of metal caught his eye he looked up to see an incoming car turning the corner heading straight towards the fighting boys. He tried to speak but all that came out was a whisper, his throat felt as if it had been torn open. Shikamaru could see the car coming closer and yelled in a louder voice. "Get out of the way!"

Both boys looked up in surprise to see the incoming danger. Naruto reacted first, using more strength then previously used against Chouji, he pushed the heavy boy away from the car. Chouji fell to the ground smacking his head on impact causing a groan to emerge from his lips. Naruto also tried to move out of the way but the car managed to nick him on his side causing him to spin from the hit.

As the car drove away, Naruto held his side tightly biting his lip in pain. He looked down; Chouji had passed out from the bump on his head and now lay like a sprawled starfish on the street. Naruto leaned down and shook the boy, he seemed satisfied as Chouji let out a tiny groan. He tried to grab both of Chouji's arms but felt a twitch of pain from his side, blood was slowly beginning to coat his shirt. Using one hand he attempted to pull the heavy boy to safety but could barley move the boy and inch before running out of breath. He looked up to see the remaining two boys watching him in a shock.

"Hey he's your friend right." He panted slightly looking at the two boys. When they didn't respond Naruto growled in annoyance. He bent down and grabbed a chubby arm and tried to pull the limp body towards the sidewalk. Naruto managed to pull Chouji a few inches before looking up and glaring at the immobilized boys. "Well then get the fuck over here and help me."

Sasuke was the first to move. He stood up and limped over to the injured blond and grabbed Chouji's other arm. As Shikamaru followed quickly seize his best friends legs they began the slow task of dragging the unconscious boy to safety. As soon as they reached the sidewalk the boys collapse on the ground slightly winded. Shikamaru's eyes were closed as he gently rubbing his neck while Sasuke had his head was tilted back while pinching the area above his noes to stop the blood flow. Naruto lay sprawled on the sidewalk holding on to his injured side trying to catch his breath. No one spoke, yet the silence that lapped over the bruised teens was surprisingly comfortable.

Naruto smirked before pushing his way up on to his feet, he staggered a moment before regaining his balance. His eyes held intensity as quickly looked over the three boys mentally checking over their cuts and bruises. He looked to Sasuke face and notice the boy was giving him a strange stare. For the life of Naruto could not understand what emotions were flickering over the gothic boy's eyes. Shrugging the weird feeling off, Naruto turned and began walking away, slipping his hands into his pockets. Words suddenly sprung from his lips before he could even reconsider them but he refused to turn around and see what type of reaction it would cause.

"I'll see you in hell."

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ARRG! Im a little moody right now! My noes started bleeding and I have allergies so everytime I manage to stop the blood flow I sneeze and it starts all over again! Grr WTF!

Soo..I've come a long way from biting a person when fighting. All fight moves have been 100 percent tested and are real. So lets explore fighting techniques!

Fight with Chouji- I've only done this once in my life and I have absolute no clue where I picked it up from. It just happened without me even thinking about it. The guy definitely weigh more then me so I think it would work if Chouji was the one in the fight. I know it seems like some Kung Fo shit but I really don't know how I did it, maybe the fear and exhilaration helped. Hmm o well it served its purpose.

Fight with Sasuke-Dad taught me the palm thing! Works much better then a punch. As far as the arm crossed knee on top? That works well cuz the person can only kick around and yell…not much else.

Fight with Shikamaru-my dad taught me this. He's a professional instructor for wrestling and other stuff. So when I asked for help he showed me this thinking I was just curious about what he does for a living. Its called a blood chock, used mostly in women wrestling (taught as a submission hold). Stops the blood flow to the brain leaving the person dizzy and disoriented.

anyway i hope you enjoyed this chapter :)


	4. Walking on eggshells

**EDIT! thank you thank you THANK YOU Shenevine for being my beta and for putting up with my stupidy you must be a saint! all must worship! Ill do one step further...people check out this girls story and give her some feedback please! cuz i mean come on she kicks ass :)**

**Oh man! I feel like my spirit has been renewed! I was getting a little depressed but a friend of mine helped me out (THANK YOU FAIRY-KILLER I LOVE YOU!) right cuz even if life can be strange and a little sad there will always be a someone who cares about u and will listen...even if uve never met. So miss fairy-killer u are an irreplaceable friend of mine. Thank you! To everyone else please check out this girl's stories! She's really an amazing person!**

**O man im in such a good mood! Nothing can bring me down right now im living off a high! Heheh ah its good to be alive!**

**Ok now in this chapter sasuke naked…. i wonder how many girls started drooling right now. HE'S IN THE SHOWER PERVS! Ok so the point is has anyone ever taken a shower with a bloody lip? Its so cool! Something about spiting the blood while waters dripping off u and u feel like Rocky or some cool fighter guy. I love having bloody lips when im taking a shower…yes I know how weird that sentence sounded. Shut up ur just jealous cuz u don't have a bloody lip!

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**

**Sticks and Stones**

**Chapter 4- **_walking on egg shells_

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_Pride is tasteless, sizeless, and colorless _

_:but it's the hardest thing to swallow:_

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Sasuke slipped inside his house and closed the door with a small click before leaning against the frame, closing his eyes and listening carefully before confirming that no one was home. He pushed off from the door, noticing the bloodstains marring the wood. Using the sleeve of his shirt, he quickly wiped away any evidence and made his way to the bathroom.

The blinding white walls of the bathroom contrasted starkly against his black attire. He touched his nose tenderly, and scraped off the dry blood around his mouth, unhooking several of his piercings and laying them carefully to the side before running a cloth under the faucet, dabbing the cuts around his eyes. Sighing impatiently, he slowly began to remove his shirt, avoiding his wounds. Snapping off his belt buckle and discarding his pants and boxers, he reached behind to his lower back and pressed lightly on the sore spots, knowing in the morning they would turn into bruises. Pushing aside the shower curtain and turning the knob to room temperature, he stepped fully into the shower.

He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to relax in the lukewarm water, but he couldn't slip into complete relaxation as the water slowly dripped down his back, burning the little cuts on his shoulders. Everything hurt, from his legs to his knuckles, every moment made him want to scream in pain.

**"I'm sorry did that hurt?"**

Sasuke's eyes snapped open in surprise.

That boy. That little fucker. He had been playing with them the whole time. The entire time he could have fought back but he didn't.

Why?

Sasuke felt the tension between his eyes build up as his brain went haywire. He angrily grabbed the lever in front of him and turned the handle, warm water hitting his chest, turning normally pail skin pinkish. Rigorously, he rubbed his eyes willing the images away. Looking down at his hands, he could see some of the black eyeliner he had been wearing coating his palms.

**"Hey here's an idea for you emo-freak. Stop being such a pain in the ass for the world. No one cares about your problems."  
**  
Sasuke frowned and began scrubbing his blackened hands under the spray, ridding himself of the dark goo. He reached over and turned the nozzle even hotter and grimaced under the spray.

That freak.

In a fit of anger, Sasuke knocked the soaps and shampoo to the ground, slamming a closed fist against the wall, bitting his lip hard and feeling the metallic taste of blood stain his lips

He must have planned this! All along waiting for the right moment for when they-waiting for...No that wasn't right.

He stepped back from the streaming water and furrowed his brows in concentration. That kid, he was always waiting for something. In his eyes, watching them, his fellow classmates. What had he been waiting for?

Sasuke braced himself against the cool wall and chewed his lip again, faintly realizing the blood.

'That kid' he thought with amusement, 'can really pack a punch.'

He gently sucked on his bloody lip before spitting on the wet marble. He watched, fascinated as the blood turned a shade lighter and swirled down the drain. He spat more blood into the water and felt a calming sensation wash over him as a tornado of red slipped down the drain.

Feeling a little better, he turned the water to cold and stood under for a full three seconds before scrambling away from the icy liquid. He quickly shut off the water and began drying himself of excess droplets. Wrapping the towel around his hips he made his way to his bedroom before sitting down on the bed and picking up the phone. Dialing the memorized number, he waited for the familiar voice to greet him.

"Hello." Sasuke almost smirked at the bored voice that responded.

"Chouji with you?" He asked not bothering to state his name; Shikamaru had caller ID he was just too lazy to give a proper greeting.

"Yeah, he's staying over for dinner.

There was a pause over the line, Sasuke scrambled for a way to bring up the topic, but ended up just blurting it out instead.

"I want to find out more about Naruto Uzumaki."

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"Ok Chouji, what do you got?"

"No record of sports, clubs, or any other after school activity. He is released with the Walkers so he doesn't take the bus home."

"Good. Shikamaru?"  
"Hold on I'm typing in the school's username." Shikamaru slumped into the chair as his fingers tapped against the keyboard, yawning loudly and squinting at the computer screen. Coming to school an hour early to look up information on this Naruto kid had not been his idea. What idiots. The password for the school's library is "library".

"Ok got it. Says here his grades are in the low 80's, his address is 48 White Rock, and his schedule should be printing out now."

Three separate papers climbed out of the printer into Shikamaru's awaiting hands, "Right I have first period science with him and then second period study hall. Oh and lunch."

"I have forth period math and then lunch with him at sixth." Chouji reported while glancing through the schedule. He reached into a bag of chips and stuffed a few in his mouth, "Wait I have math with him? Since when?"

"I only have lunch with him." Sasuke felt strangely disappointed, sure he already knew that he only had lunch with the boy, hell that was the only time the three of them could corner him without any teachers around, but still, the disappointment lingered.

"So now what?" Chouji asked, wiping the grease from his fingers onto the paper.

Sasuke rested his head against the wall and felt the cool surface transfer to his forehead. He reached up to fiddle with his ear piecing, a habit that emerged when he was thinking, but found only a smooth lobe. For some reason the earrings were not as appeasing as they use to be, so he left them at home today, "We will corner him alone at lunch and figure out what to do from there."

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The sitting arrangement during lunch is decided by your status in the school. The window seats were taken by those who are the strongest and well liked, while rejects and loners sit closer to the garbage. This arrangement is never challenged, but surprisingly, they found Naruto sitting at the table closest to the door, eating an egg with a bottle of tap water. His orange hood was pulled over his head, shielding him from the occasional cafeteria food and laughter that was tossed his way.

The flying bits of food participles halted when Shikamaru and Sasuke sat on either side of Naruto, while Chouji sat across from him. Some students sitting a few seats down quickly picked up their trays and silently moved to another table. Sasuke watched Naruto's eyes widen slightly and trail longingly after the students before relaxing and becoming void of emotion.

Naruto made a move to leave, but Shikamaru and Sasuke quickly placed a hand on his shoulders and forced him back into his seat. Sasuke could feel the tense muscles under the soft cloth and watched Naruto sit down and resumed to peel the tiny scraps of shell from his egg. Silence loomed over the table as Naruto pointedly ignored their presence.

Getting tired of resistance, Sasuke's nimble fingers plucked the egg from Naruto, and crushed it, shacking off the excess crumbs from his hands. Naruto stared at the table in front of him with empty eyes concentrating on a tiny speck of dirt on the surface. He moved to stand up again but was forced roughly back to his seat.

"We wants some answers Uzumaki.", Sasuke stated staring intensely at the boy beside him, noticing the boy grow rigid at his rough voice. Sasuke made an effort to speak bit more calmly, "What happened the other day, how did you do that?"

Of course that wasn't the real question in Sasuke's mind. Not how, but _why_.

Why hadn't Naruto just done that from day one?  
Why did he wait until there was no one was around to see?  
Why the hell did he put up with their shit if he could kick their ass any living day?

"You wanted to wait till after school right? You didn't even acknowledge our presence 'till we were outside the gate." Shikamaru sat relaxed in his chair, eyebrows raising high, waiting for an answer, but none came.

A sandwich slid under Naruto's gaze and a voice asked, "Why did you save me?" that caused a response. Naruto looked up at Chouji's eyes that stared curiously at him. He quickly looked back down, staring at the ham and cheese sandwich with nervous eyes, as if it would jump up and bite him at any moment. He slowly moved forward and tugged the plastic covered sandwich closer to him and unwrapped it slowly. Shikamaru, Chouji and Sasuke watched as Naruto opened it up and peeked inside. He must have determined it safe because in the next moment the entire sandwich was stuffed in his mouth, swallowing it in one gulp.

They stared a little shocked as Naruto took a sip from his water and moved to stand up again. Sasuke was the only one who recovered quickly enough to yank him back down. Keeping his hand on the boy's tense arm he pushed his own lunch closer to Naruto, Shikamaru following suit.

Naruto glanced over with skeptic eyes before snatching their brown bags and clutching them to his chest. Sasuke tried to reassure him by loosing his hold on Naruto's arm and resting them against the table, ready to spring at any moment.

Once again the silence pressed against them, stifling their words, except for Naruto, who sat as though lost in another world.

Sasuke had finally had enough of that. He poked Naruto on the side and watched the boy flinch and hiss in a hushed voice, "Don't touch me bastard."

Sasuke smirked, finally able to get a reaction from the boy, "Touched a nerve dobe?" Naruto could almost feel the smugness rolling off Sasuke's voice as he shifted closer to the boy on his right, only to flinch that time when Shikamaru stated casually, "You're cut still hasn't healed."

Sasuke stared confused for a moment, when he realized what Shikamaru was talking about. Naruto pushed Chouji out of the way, and the car sideswiped him. Sasuke felt a tinge of guilt as he watched Naruto shift uncomfortably away from Shikamaru this time, and closer to him until he realized what he was doing and clutched the bags of lunches closer.

Naruto's eyes darted back and forth between the boys sitting next to him and in defeat slumped into his seat, sinking lower and lower to the ground.

Sensing the boy's submission, Sasuke began to speak with a voice of authority "Like I said, we're not going anywhere until we get-hey what the fuck are you doing!"

Naruto had slunk so low in his chair that he had slipped under the table and was now scrambling over feet for and opening. Sasuke's feet clapped around the tiny body, but Naruto just wiggled out of the embrace and crawled out from the unattained side of the table, taking off in a sprint towards the cafeteria doors; they swung wildly in his wake.

The boys continued to watch even after it was evident that Naruto was not coming back.  
"Should we go after him?" Chouji asked, looking to Shikamaru, but Sasuke was the one who answered.  
"No, we'll just try again after school."

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Autumn's leaves crackled under their feet as Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Chouji followed Naruto at a safe distance, every now and then ducking into an alleyway. This seemed to prove useless, seeing the boy was oblivious to his three stalkers.

The three of them had agreed that it was best to follow Naruto a bit before confronting him again, no one wanted a replay of yesterday.

As they walked, the streets grew dirtier and the cars became flashier, with music pumping to a steady beat. The sidewalk became crowded with litter and cigarette butts and the houses came closer and closer together, until there was only a tiny amount of space between them. The pedestrians were wearing heavier clothing, even though it was October, they looked raggedy while sitting in the garbage with their legs stretched out across the path.

The trio of boys began walking closer to Naruto, who seemed comfortable among the homeless, but far enough so he wouldn't spy them.

They panicked as Naruto turned a street corner and disappeared behind a building, they hurried to catch up to him, but as they turned the corner he had vanished from their sight.

"Shit! Where'd he go?" Chouji began to step out into the street, when a hand flew out of no where and pulled him back on the sidewalk. Not a second later a huge truck flashed across their vision, drenching them as it splashed through a puddle.

A snigger brought them to back to their unfortunately wet reality. Naruto released Chouji's shoulder and whipped the droplet of water off the back of his shirt.

Chouji managed to sputter out a tiny thanks, but Naruto's eyes narrowed into tiny slits. He roughly pushed Chouji away, causing him to stumble back a bit before Shikamaru grabbed his shoulders, preventing him from falling all the way down.

"Why are you following me?"

"You knew?"

Naruto snorted at their dumbfounded expressions, "Your lucky I'm such a nice guy. I was thinking of ditching you in a less pleasant street. I'm sure Orochimaru would have been more than pleased to see some middle school boys lost on his street, especially pretty-boy here." nodding towards Sasuke.

Sasuke felt torn, part of him wanted to throttle the kid for calling him a pretty-boy but the other part of him was amazed at how intimidating Naruto could sound. The same kid who he him-self had given numerous swirlies and black eyes was now watching him with a dauntless face. Every movement this boy made screamed confidence. When had this happened?

Naruto began to walk when the light turned green and Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru were forced to match his speed walking. Naruto gave a glance behind at the trio before speaking, "So what do you really want? Maybe another round?"  
"No!" too late, that had come out a little forcefully. Sasuke tried to calm his voice to a normal tone, "I already told you, we just want to talk."

Naruto forcefully pushed Shikamaru away, who was on his right and made his way up a large building's stoop

"Oh I see, no fun when your target actually fights back, huh?"

The building he was heading towards was terrifying, the neon sign with the words "The Jungle" casting a red glare over the stairs, the last letters flickered on and off with a soft buzz. Graffiti marred the old bricks, a picture of enlarged men choking each other with muscles and eyes bulging were shown, underneath the drawing someone had written in crude crimson lettering.

_"Welcome to the jungle  
It gets worse here everyday  
Ya learn ta live like an animal  
In the jungle where we play  
If you got a hunger for what you see  
You'll take it eventually  
You can have anything you want  
But you better not take it from me!"_

Even from the outside, soft cries and muffled cheers could be heard, coupled by the sound of a loud crack, like wood had been snapped in half. Naruto stepped up to the entrance and began opening the steel door, but Sasuke snatched the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him away.

"What are you doing!" Sasuke whispered, as to not attract attention from inside.

"Trying to get away from you freaks obviously!" Naruto stated as he began a tug-of-war over his jacket.  
"Let.Me.Go!"

The jacket's collar began slipping off from Naruto's tugging, revealing the skin from his neck and shoulder, a black and blue bruise poked out, causing Sasuke to stop pulling for a moment and stare.

"What!"

Naruto looked down and noticed his discolored spots were exposed, he swore loudly and tried to wrench away his arm, but Sasuke clutched the fabric tightly between his fingers, causing more skin to be revealed. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the black and blue swells traveling up the boy's arm. When he finally was able to look at Naruto's face, he expected fear from the exposure, but was shocked to find the boy glaring at him accusingly.

"What!" Naruto repeated, as he was finally able to shrug off Sasuke's hold. He quickly covered up the ugly patches of blue and yellow.

"Do your parents hit you?" Sasuke finally asked, trying to keep his voice as emotionless as possible. Part of him didn't want it to be true, but he knew there could be no other reasonable explanation. It would explain the boy's reclusive behavior and lack of friends. Yes, it would explain everything.

Naruto looked a bit surprised at these words and took a moment to comprehend the meaning. He smiled and cocked his eyebrow before answering, "I can guarantee you that my parents have never touched me."

"Don't lie!" Sasuke yelled angrily, seizing the tan wrist in his hand and rolled down the jacket to expose more hideous abrasions "Where else would you get these bruises?."

Naruto looked at him stunned until a sad smile slipped past his lips.

"You really don't remember?" He asked with a trace of disappointment in his voice. Naruto snatched his hand away but this time, did not bother to hide the discolored spots. His eyes seemed almost sad the way they drooped at the edges. "You gave me these."

Sasuke flinched at the unexpected pain in his stomach, it felt as though some one had hollowed out the insides with a rusty spoon. Naruto took this moment to slip past the distracted boy and pull open the heavy door, letting them slam behind him, waking Sasuke from his shocked state.

He spun around to see the large door looming ahead, the neon sign seemed to coat the doorway with red lighting giving it a demonic appearance.

Letting his hand rest on the cold handle and feeling the icy metal graze his fingertips, Sasuke could feel Shikamaru and Chouji silently come behind him waiting for his next move. He swallowed deep in his throat and wrenched open the door, stepping into the dimly lit room.

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**Ooo Sasuke and Naruto showed a little skin! Sexy! Sept for Naruto's bruises and all. Why is it called 'The Jungle'? Simple I am a slave to old rock, especially Guns n' Roses. In my opinion it's much better then 'Hokage' or 'Konho' come on people show a little creativity here! **

**Ok honestly thou...48 White Rock…hehe there is a setzer bottle not 5 inch away called White Rock Setzler…shut up**

**Sorry for the long wait hope i made up for it**

**More references to Rock and Roll in the next chapter!**


	5. Homophobia is so gay

**wish me luck people after i post this im going to be interviewed for a job at my local store. fingers crossed for luck!**

**Special thanks to Shenevive! For editing chapter 5 and fixing all my mistakes! And no pervo they hate each other right now! Maybe ill add some stuff later to ease you sexual frustration. So please check out this girl's story for me called "Learn from Your Mistakes" and leave her some pretty reviews please!**

**Special notice to meep-I tried to respond but you signed anon so if you can please write be another responds with ur email and I will answer ur questions best to my abilitys. I have everything set up I my head as to why Naruto acts the way he does and how this will end. (by the way this was my first flame…well not really but it was very close. I feel like I should give you a trophy) **

**I'm kinda sad no one drew me the picture, I really wanted one :(**

**Anyway…..LONGEST CHAPTER EVER! But worth it cuz this outta get a few laughs. Song is by Dead Milkman (I doubt anyone know them). This is my favorite quote of all time I love and live by this quote! (the spacings weird i dont know how to fix it...)**

**Rock on!

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**

**Sticks and Stones **

**Chapter 5- Homophobia is so gay**

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_Here's to the crazy ones! _

_The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. _

_The ones who see things differently. _

_They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status-quo. _

_You can quote them. Disagree with them. Glorify, or vilify them. _

_But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. _

_Because they change things. They push the human race forward. _

_And while some may see them as the crazy one, we see genius. _

_Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world _

_are the ones who do._

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The door slammed shut with a loud bang, making the trio jump in alarm as they began to venture slowly into the dimly lighted hall with shattered glass beneath their feet. Overhead one could see a suicidal fly continuously ram itself straight into the single bulb that lit the hallways. The closer they drew to the next set of doors the louder the music grew until the beat of the drum fell  
in sync with their own heart beat.

Sasuke pushed the handle slowly and peeked within the room, he could see two figures moving gracefully within an enclosed cage. Both swayed to the rhythm of the music, dodging and ducking each others hits with such speed, that they were almost a blur. They're sexes weren't identifiable because the stage was too dark, but they looked like ballerinas performing a graceful duet, ballerinas who happen to be beating the crap out of each other.

The view of the two fighters was abruptly covered as a woman stepped in the way, blocking the sight. She towered over the boys, analyzing them with her light brown eyes.

"Welcome to the Jungle" the woman's lips curled into a tiny smirk and she crossed her arms over her large chest, "Now get out, your all under age." Chouji was the first one to speak. "I'm sorry but, did you see a blond hair kid with an orange jacket run in here?"

The woman turned to the boy curiously, sizing him up, "Who Naruto? You just missed him, he went out the back." The boys tried to control their fear as her eyes scanned their faces, "He was acting kind of weird, said something about three guys trying to steal his kidneys," her eyes narrowed teasingly, that wont be you three, would it?"

Before any of them could respond, a colossal white haired man pushed his way to the blond woman, he swaggered unsteadily on his feet smiling like a drunk. His grin was aimed towards the blond woman and seemed completely oblivious to the three boys in his shadow, "Did you say Naruto? Where is the brat? I wanted to show him my new tattoo."

The women turned angrily towards the fifty somewhat man, "You're not showing him that perverted tattoo!"

The man pouted, "Ah Tsunade, you just don't appreciate fine art. Kakashi liked it."  
Tsunade shook her head in disdain, "I blame you for corrupting Naruto's innocent nature."

He opened his mouth to protest but a sharp voice cut him off, "Where can we find him?"

The large man looked down and finally seemed to notice the trio. He narrowed in on the owner voice and seemed to sober up in that instant, "He always stops by here to collect the papers and is usually back within an hour."

Shikamaru nodded in understanding and then asked, "Do you know where he might be heading now?"

Tsunade was the one to answer, smiling in amusement, "Where he goes everyday, the town square to hand out pamphlets."

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A crowed of maybe forty people had formed in the center of town by the time Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru had arrived, as they pushed towards the center of the circle unaware of the dumbfounded expressions on the passing people's faces. They jolted to a stop when a loud crisp voice rang out in the middle of the crowd.

"Homophobia is so gay!"

Sasuke froze with one foot still in mid air. He had heard that voice before, granted not many times, but still it was familiar in the way it leaked with confidence and boldness. The voice ripped threw the air like a chainsaw, impossible to ignore or avoid.

"It's Adam and Steve! Not Adam an Eve!"

As they slowly approached the center of the crowd, they could see a blond boy running up to the nearby people, handing out orange papers. He flashed a young woman a bright smiled as she nervously took one of his papers. He thanked her and moved back towards the crowd to yell. The boys could now see his face clearly, three scars stretched across each cheek, blond hair and blue eyes – it was Naruto.

"Come on, everyone knows homosexuals are god's way of controlling the population!"

Naruto smiled widely at everyone, rushing from group to group, passing his pamphlet around. Some people smiled timidly at the boy and took his paper while others avoided him completely, however this didn't seem to discourage him at all. He would just smile and move on to the next group.

Sasuke, Shikamaru and Chouji watched on in disbelief, making sure not to reveal themselves. This went on for a few minutes until Naruto walked up to a rather large man who was balding slightly at the top. Naruto smiled at him as the man snatched the paper out of his hand, just as Naruto stared to walk to the next group the man spoke in a mocking voice.

"What is this shit? Vote yes for gay marriage? You think people going to approve for your fucking gay petition?"

The crowed fell to a hush, but Naruto only smiled at the man and answered simply, "Yes."

The fleshy man's eyes narrowed as he tore the rest of the bright orange papers from Naruto's hands and elbowed him in the stomach. Naruto let out a tiny oof as he fell onto the ground, he reached behind him to find his backside was now completely soaked from a small puddle. The man smirked before releasing the papers, letting them flutter around the damp boy. Naruto desperately tried to capture the papers before they hit the ground, but only succeeded into catching one or two, the rest he watched sadly as the water smeared the black ink together.

"It'll be a cold day in hell when faggots can marry. So get your queer ass home." The man snarled, he spat on Naruto as a farewell.

Beside the giggles coming from the back, the crowd had gone completely silent. During the mans speech no one had jumped in to save the boy nor had they encouraged the man, standing in the background they could only watch with great interest. Sasuke, Shikamaru and Chouji pushed their way through to get a little closer. They could see Naruto's eyes were covered by his bangs, but a tiny smile crept onto his lips that was almost hidden. His neck snapped forward, unleashing a bright smile to the large lump of human before him. Naruto sprinted towards the retreating man and leap on to his back using the folds of fat as footholds. He wrapped his arms around the man's neck and began yelling in a high voice right next to the man's ear.

"You know what, Stuart, I LIKE YOU. You're not like the other people, here, in the trailer park."

Naruto had changed his voice to sound more country and was nodding his head quickly as he spoke loudly so the whole crowd could hear him. The man was spun around desperately trying to tear the boy from his back, but Naruto just grinned and tightened his hold all while saying-

"Oh, don't go get me wrong. They're fine people, they're good Americans. But they're content to sit back, maybe watch a little Mork and Mindy on channel 57, maybe kick back with a cool, Coors 16-ouncer. They're good, fine people, Stuart. But they don't know ... what the queers are doing to the soil!"

A couple of people laughed behind their hands as the man tried to spit out something that sounded similar to 'my names not Stuart' but could barely get a word in over Naruto's rapid talking.

"You know that Jonny Wurster kid, the kid that delivers papers in the neighborhood. He's a foreign kid. Some of the neighbors say he smokes crack, but I don't believe it. Anyway, for his tenth birthday, all he wanted was a Burrow Owl. Kept bugging his old man. Dad, get me a burrow owl. I'll never ask for anything else as long as I live. So the guy breaks down and buys him a burrow owl."

At this point Naruto climbed off the mans back, the crowd had rapidly increased. The man, completely embarrassed, began to edge away from Naruto to get lost in the crowd but the blond boy walked right along side him still speaking in an obnoxious voice that seemed to echo in the tiny valley.

"Anyway, 10:30, the other night, I go out to my yard, and there's the Wurster kid, looking up in to the trees. I say, 'What are you looking for?' he says, 'I'm looking for my burrow owl.' I say, 'Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick. Everybody knows where the burrow owl lives. In a hole. In the ground. Why the hell do you think they call it a burrow owl, anyway?' Now Stuart, do you think a kid like that is going to know what the queers are doing to the soil?"

Again the man tried to protest the name Stuart but Naruto ignored him and slug an arm around the man as if they were close buddies. Sasuke had to conceal his bark of laughter that rose in his throat. Some people were repeating his words, he could hear Jesus on a pogo stick followed by a snort. They attempted to whisper so not to drown out the eccentric blond, not that they could. He  
quickly turn all his attention to Naruto not wanting to miss a single word

"I first became aware of this about ten years ago, the summer my oldest boy, Bill Jr. died. You know that the carnival comes into town every year? Well this year they came through with a ride called 'The Mixer'. The man said, 'Keep your head, and arms, inside the Mixer at all times.' But Bill Jr, he was a DAREDEVIL, just like his old man. He was leaning out saying 'Hey everybody, look at me! look at me!'"

The man had stopped all movement, seeing escape was impossible and now stood rooted to the spot trying to avoid everyone's gaze. Naruto danced around, swinging his arms wildly to emphasize his story even further.

"Pow! He was decapitated! They found his head over by the snow cone concession. A few days after that, I open up the mail. And there's a pamphlet in there. From Pueblo, Colorado, and it's addressed to Bill, Jr. And it's entitled, 'Do you know what the queers are doing to our soil?'"

Naruto face grew serious, as he stood closer to the man, looking solemnly into his eyes as if he were about to unfolded a tragic secret. His voice had become hush, yet was still heard all the way towards the back.

"Now, Stuart, if you look at the soil around any large US city, there's a big underground homosexual population. Des Moines, Iowa, for example. Look at the soil around Des Moines, Stuart. You can't build on it; you can't grow anything in it. The government says it's due to poor farming, but I know what's really going on, Stuart. I know it's the queers. They're in it with the aliens."

That was the last straw. The whole crowd broke into an uproar of laughter, holding each other up and clutching their stomachs. Chouji was on the ground, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. Shikamaru's large laughs had turned to hiccups, his eyes squeezed shut as he attempted poorly to regulate his breathing. Sasuke had a silly grin plastered over his face, he pushed his way closer to the edge of the circle, and now had a clear view of Naruto with a big smile on his face. Naruto forced his eyes to become huge and innocent, as he spoke outward, no longer addressing the man but the mass of laughing people.

"They're building landing strips for gay Martians, I swear to God!"

He placed a hand over his heart and then swung around to clap the large man on the shoulder, grinning broadly.

"You know what, Stuart, I like you. You're not like the other people, here in this trailer park."

The crowd had began a slow clap that grew into wild cheers and hoots, from Sasuke's view, he could see Naruto's cheeks flush with pride as he scooped the soggy orange papers and beam at the crowd. He gave a short mocking bow to Stuart and a more extravagant one to his spectators.

"You guys have been a great audience! I bid you all good night!" Naruto ran towards an opening and the crowd parted like a wave, some smiling and patting him on the back others laughing too hard to even notice who he was. While Shikamaru and Chouji watched the boy disappear into the park, Sasuke scooped up a paper Naruto neglected to pick up. Squinting his eyes, Sasuke could barely make out the ink splotched writing.

"_It isn't a question of male or female. It isn't a question of gay, straight, or bi. When it's more than a feeling, more than a desire; when it's an all-consuming drive that stems from the soul of your existence... When love strikes, it doesn't ask questions. LOVE KNOWS NO GENDER. Vote yes for gay marriage!"_

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After pushing by the crowd Sasuke, Chouji and Shikamaru were able to trail Naruto to an old park with a wooden jungle gym and swings, and watch him spread the remaining wet papers before him. Naruto gazed downward, backing away a few steps and the fell tiredly into the swing set behind him. The trio slowly approached him from behind, but he was too focused on the orange papers to even notice.

Naruto rubbed his temples tiredly and sighed. As they came closer they could faintly hear him whispering to himself, "Shit, these will never dry." Naruto reached down and gently plucked one from the ground and held it afar by a corner. The boy looked exhausted but his cheeks were still flushed with pride.

They hesitated at first, the scene was so isolated, a deserted playground with a boy too young to be an adult but too old to be a child sadly staring at a clump of wet papers. Finally, Sasuke stepped forward, causing a shadow to overlap the papers. "Hey."

"Holy shit!" Naruto dropped his papers and clutched his heart, he spun around with a gapping mouth but then quickly scowled at the intruders. "What the hell are you doing here!"

"We just want to talk." Sasuke answered as Shikamaru and Chouji took their place on the swings and watched Naruto stare straight ahead.

"Just talk huh?" He began twisting the swing to face Sasuke but he continued to coil the chains together around and around. When the metal chains could twist no further he let go and started spinning around.

"Freak. Moron. Fag. Faggot. Asshole. Fucker. Bastard. Shithead. Loser. Fairy. Dumbass. Stupid. Cocksucker. Queer."

He spoke as their faces turned into blurs of colors, the chains creaked in protest as the swing came to a stop. Naruto sat still, "Those are just a few of the things you haved called me just this year. So excuse me if I'm not jumping for joy to talk to you."

Naruto slumped on the seat of the swing, his legs were tucked together while clutching the metal chain, "What do you really want?"

Without even thinking Sasuke began to pull back on the swing, intending to give the blond a little ride, but Naruto leaped off the seat as if he'd been burned.

"Don't have better things to do then stalk me? Go drowning cats or whatever you do for fun!" Naruto glared at the raven-haired boy before snatching his soggy papers, heading towards the exit of the park. He started downtown, but after a few blocks he turned around and realized the three boys were trailing him in his wake.

"Why are you still following me!"

"Because we don't know how to get home from here."

Naruto's face grew red from anger and embarrassment, he turned around and stomped ahead of them, "FINE! I'll take you to my house, but after that I don't want to see your faces until Monday morning, got that?"

They nodded to his back and quickly caught up with him as Shikamaru and Sasuke walked along side of him and Chouji trailed behind.  
"Well isn't this familiar." Sasuke heard Naruto whisper to himself, he kicked a rock aside and zipped up his jacket.

After a few blocks they halted at the curb and waited for the light to turn green. The silence stretched and Naruto fidgeted and cracked his knuckles loudly. He stared intensely at the light as if to will the color to turn. Shikamaru nudged him on his side, "So how'd you learn to fight like that?"

Naruto shrugged slightly and crossed his arms over his chest, "Why do you want to know?"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows so high they almost disappeared into his hairline, "Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because for the last couple of years you've never lifted a hand to fight and now all of the sudden, you go kung-fu on us."

"I have a reason, but you wont understand it." Naruto answered nonchalantly, the light finally turned green and he stepped off the curb, but was roughly seized by the sleeve, courtesy of Sasuke, that forced him to stop "I don't care, just tell me."

"Why?" Naruto tugged his sleeve free and faced Sasuke.

"Why! Because you owe us the truth!" Sasuke roughly pushed Naruto against the brick wall, lifting him slightly by the collar. But Naruto used his elbow to smash into Sasuke's inner joints and quickly reversed their position, slamming him against the wall and lifting him so high, his toes were just barely grazing the floor. Sasuke felt warm fingers lightly dance over his neck until they rested below his Adam's apple and started pressing on the bulge. The pain was unbearable, his breath came out in tiny wisp and he couldn't stop his arms from shaking. Sasuke tried to speak, but there was no air in his lungs, all he could do was weakly clutch at Naruto's hands.

Narutos blue eyes narrowed angrily and his voice became a soft whisper, "I don't owe you a damn thing."

Shikamaru and Chouji grabbed either side of Naruto's shoulders and tried to pull him away. "Come on man, let him down!" Chouji begged as he attempted to unleash Naruto's hold on the boy.

Naruto looked from Chouji to Shikamaru and finally at Sasuke. He slowly brought Sasuke back to the ground and smiled sadly before uncurling his fingers from the boy's shirt. Sasuke hunched over, coughing and trying to suck as much air in as possible, he heard a tiny whisper that sounded like '_lucky bastard'_ before Naruto stepped away and allowed his friends to grab his shoulders and hold him upright.

Sasuke looked up to see Naruto eye-ing him carefully before he turned and continued to walk as if nothing had happened. The trio was stuned for a second, but they quickly caught up with him, walking in silence.

Sasuke rubbed his raw throat gently, he could still feel those warm fingers dancing over his skin. He glanced through the side of his eyes to watch Naruto. _'I wonder what he's thinking about.'  
_  
Inside Naruto's mind '_DIE ASSHOLES, DIE DIE DIE!'_

"So," Chouji attempted to break the silence, "I didn't know you were for gay rights."

Naruto huffed loudly and crossed his arms over his chest for warmth. He trudged ahead not bothering to look back as he spoke, "No offense, but I bet I could write a book on things you don't know about me."

Shikamaru's eyebrow rose, feeling his best friend had been insulted at, he was about to reply when Chouji frowned at him and gave a shrug to Naruto's sarcastic tone. "Point taken but you must have a reason for doing it right?"

Naruto continued to walk but slowed down slightly and allowed the boys to walk besides him. He was silent for a full minute before he spoke, "If gay marriage passes, I get my family."

"Wait what?" The three friends stopped and stared at the boy's orange back, Naruto also stopped as if he was waiting for them, when they finally overcame the shock they rushed forward and Naruto continued to walk.

"You wanted an answer and I gave it to you, I want my family. Happy?" Naruto's back tensed up and he drew his shoulders together as he waited for their responds, but none came. He turned around and raised his eyebrow "What, no more questions?"

"No."

"Good, we're here. Now leave." The three looked up to see the building once again looming over them. Except this time it wasn't as frightening as before, the sign still buzzed loudly and the red light fell over them, but somehow it wasn't quite as scary.

"This really is your house?" Shikamaru asked, squinting upward to see the top.

"What happened to no more questions?"

Sasuke, getting sick of Naruto's tough guy act, finally snapped and grabbed Naruto's jacket. "Stop being such a pussy, all we want is some information."

Naruto slapped away his hand now seriously pissed, "Information! Information! You ambush me at lunch! You follow me home! Just for some damn information? Where was this thirst for knowledge when you were giving me swirlies?"

Sasuke winced as bright blue eyes bore into his own, he quickly attempted to calm himself and maintain a neutral face. "Shut up."

Naruto on the other hand, was just starting, he stepped up and gave Sasuke a tiny shove and then stepped closer like a predator right into Sasuke's personal space and yelled. "Face it, you're not here to make amends or for forgiveness because what you're feeling now isn't regret, it's fucking guilt maybe even disappointment, that I'm not the loser you built me up to be."

"Shut up!" Sasuke growled, trying to shove Naruto away but the blond grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him closer, closing the gap so their faces were inches apart. They were so close that the heat of their breaths collided with each other forming one big cloud of air that dispersed over their heads.

"It's not the fucking same bastard! So here's how this is going to work, you leave me the hell alone and I'll let you keep all your teeth."

Sasuke moved automatically, forgetting that they weren't at school and pulled his arm out of Naruto's grip and slammed his fist into the boy's jaw effectively knocking him away. Naruto stumbled from the impacted and crashed into the doorframe, his head was hurled into the bricks causing little pieces of skin to tear away. Minutes passed before he straightened up and wiped away the blood forming above his eyebrow. However, a few droplets remained stubborn and clung to his hair, tinting it slightly in a red hue.

Sasuke felt an overwhelming pain stab his chest as accusing blue eyes narrowed in on his own ebony ones. Two days ago those eyes were cold and lifeless but regardless he never felt as if it was his fault because the eyes never blamed him. But now these eyes condemned him and he couldn't bare to tear his eyes away. Sasuke whispered softly, "Shit, Naruto..."

"I hate you." Unlike Sasuke, the voice was loud and clear, calmly stating the truth and nothing more. Naruto turned and walked up the remaining stairs to the building. They could see his orange jacket wet where had been pushed in the puddle earlier and the seams at the bottom were coming undone.

"Naruto," thr voice was weak, even to his own ears, "wait..." He took a few cautions steps up and reached for the dirty jacket once again.

"Shut up." Naruto had his head against the doorway as if he was contemplating if he should go in or not.

"No I just-"-

"Shh! Shut up for a second!" He placed an ear against the door and winced when his cut scrapped on the door. "Oh god, they're drunk." Just as he spoke, the large door opened to reveal a man with a bowl cut hair-do wearing a tight green jump suit. The man's eyes were unfocused until they landed on the blond boy; he smiled widely nearly blinding the boys with his sparkling teeth.

"Naruto! It is wonderful to see you! You must join us with your youth and celebrate with us through music!" The man turned back and called into the building, "HEY NARUTO IS HERE!"

Cheers of joy were heard from inside as multiple hands reached out to grab a hold of the blond boy.

Naruto's eyes widened in fright as he stepped back and nearly knocked the three boys down to separate him from the intoxicated hands. Unconsciously the three boys grabbed onto his mattered jacket to pull him from danger, yet this act was fruitless when the force from the other side tugged Naruto and the three of them inside. The last words they heard before the door slammed shut behind them was Naruto's terrifying remark.

"Oh crap they're singing!"

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**Ive goten a few complaints in the last chapter on how quickly Sasuke Chouji and Shikamaru changed and wanted to become friends with Naruto NOPE WRONG! Remember what I said in chapter two 'it's easier to hit someone when they don't have a name or identify'. At this point theyre confused and pissed off. Now as you can see theyre very very guilty and more curious about Naruto then anything else. **

**However Naruto in return wants nothing to do with them. To him theyre the bad guys and will always be the bad guys**

**And yes I have a VERY GOOD REASON as to why Naruto held off so long in the fight, ive changed it a couple of times so don't worry you'll see later on. Trust me.**

**And no im not done smacking sasuke around cuz I find great pleasure in doing it, it sorta a revenge for me against my old bullies and besides Sasuke an ass for leaving Naruto in the series.**

**As for the next chapter….mwahaa! I found the best song for the jounin! Maybe even for Tsunade… quick question anyone know what a toker is?**

**I work hard on making it long so hope you liked chapter 5! if you don't like or think i can improve on some parts please let me know and ill try to fix it to the best of my ability :)**

**peace**

**gene**


	6. Forgive and forget? I don't think so

**I..got 47 reviews…. in one chapter….ooo**

**:passes out:**

**lucky for the readers I can still type while unconscious. Thank you guys so much for the reviews. Ive been walking around with a goofy grin for the last few days.**

**I heard my mom talking about me…and I quote 'I think she's really lost it this time."**

**Thanks moooom!**

**Not only the reviews but Nyaron was kind enough to draw me the picture I've been asking for! You can check it out here or go to my profile: **

**http/ i23. photobucket. com / albums / b383/ Akio-kun/ dumpster.jpg**

**Finally! We see some hints of boyxboy hehe Kaka/Iruk are so cute, plus somehow a little sasu/naru slipped in with out my knowledge…no really im serious I wrote the paragraph went back to check for spelling and BAM there it was. Seem my mind is naturally inclined to pervertedness**

**On another note I'm sorry this chapter took so long to post (its long thou! 17 freaken pages!) I held off posting it because I was waiting for today. This day is very special day, basically today was the day my life changed.**

**Ok last thing so I don't get my ass sued- i don't own Naruto, the Steven Miller song 'the joker' (nice job most of u guys guessed it), nor do I own 'vagina' by the bloodhound gang **

**special thanks to my beta reader Shenevive for ficing all my mistake and grammer errors any complaints go to her! jk please check out her new story 'Every Summer' its really cute!**

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**Sticks and Stones **

**Chapter 6-Forgive and Forget? I Don't Think So. **

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_Stop right there. That's exactly where I lost it.  
See that line. Well I never should have crossed it.  
Stop right there. Well I never should have said  
that it's the very moment that  
I wish that I could take back_

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"Oh crap they're singing!" Were the last words they heard Naruto moan as the metal door slammed behind them.

The jolt of losing their tug of war with Naruto's jacket caused them to fall over each other in a pile of limbs. The group of adults took no notice of the three boys as they carted Naruto towards the depths of the room.

The boys quickly untangled themselves and used the wall as a guide into the next room, around the bend they could hear Naruto's frantic shouts. Old hag, you're choking me with your boobs!  
Tsunade did not appear to notice the comment and proceeded to drag Naruto around in a headlock and gave him a nuggy. "NARUTO! HEY EVERYONE NARUTO IS HERE!"

Cheer and shouts were heard and the trio of boys watched as Naruto was passed around like a rag doll. Their voices were muffled from the music but the expression of the adults was definitely one of delight when they set their eyes on Naruto. Several people gathered around the bar area nursing their glasses of booze. Sasuke could see the two people from earlier who were fighting in the cage had not finished their brawl. From behind the bar, a white haired man from earlier chuckled and sent a slow punch towards Naruto, who ducked it laughingly before being abruptly pulled away by two men.

One had a cigarette poking out of his mouth and the other was chewing on what looked like a needle. They both grinned and grabbed either side of Naruto's cheeks and pulled in opposite directions, stretching the boy's whiskered face. Naruto slapped away their hands and rubbed his sore cheeks but was still smiling.

Naruto walked over to the cage where two figures stopped fighting for a moment to say hi. One was a woman with almost purplish hair wearing a fishnet shirt under her trench coat, the other was a tall stone-faced male with many scars running from the top of his skull down to his lip. When Naruto drew near the women shouted out a greeting to which Naruto respond immediately. They both grinned and squinted their eyes while sticking out their tongues like children. The man just looked on with a tiny almost unnoticeable grin.

From the corner a man started to walk to Naruto, sneaking up behind him while sending a wink towards the women. The man was about 5'10 with darkly tanned skin and chocolate brown hair neatly pulled back in a ponytail. On his nose ran a white scar contrasting against his tan skin, he was smiling devilishly as he drew closer to Naruto.

He reached out and tapped Naruto's shoulder and laughed gently in amusement as the blond turned in confusion.

Sasuke watched as Naruto's face broke into a large grin, happier then the smirk he had given while beating up the three boys and much bigger then the one he had when the town square had started a slow clap for him.

"Iruka!"

Naruto pounced on the man and yelled in delight as the man swung him around twice before setting him on his feet. Another man walked towards the two, he had grayish hair and a black mask that covered half his face. The only eye visible, crinkled slightly at the corners as if he were smiling and gave Naruto a one-handed hug before turning to Iruka and attempted to pounce on him like Naruto had done.

Iruka laughed and pushed him off with a blush. Kakashi turned back to Naruto and ruffled his hair slightly before nodding in Sasuke, Chouji and Shikamaru's direction. When the boy turned around and saw the three of them standing at the entrance his beaming smile quickly fell into a grimace. Before Naruto could stop him, Kakashi motioned the three boys over, which they quickly obeyed and stood beside Naruto's side.

"Who are you? How do you know Naruto?"

"We're friends from school." Sasuke answered smoothly, Naruto's neck snapped forward but he didn't turn around. Iruka was about to ask another question when Tsunade called him over for some help. As soon as Iruka and Kakashi weren't looking, Naruto spun around and smacked Sasuke's forehead.

Sasuke reacted too slowly and cursed himself when his own hand came up to smack the same spot again, he glared through his bangs and could clearly see Naruto gloating with a smile.

Oh no, this would not do. Sasuke casually leaned forward and dug his hand under Naruto's clothing to pinch the hidden skin. Naruto suppressed a tiny yelp and glanced over to see if Iruka had noticed and was relieved to see Kakashi seemed to have his full attention. He turned back to see Sasuke smirking at him with that ugly grin of his.

Hell no! Naruto was the king of pranks, and he was not about to be outdone by this amateur!

Naruto stepped closer so he was only centimeters away from Sasuke's face, he watched as the smirk became one of confusion and then panicked at the close proximity of the blond boy. Naruto was barely holding his laughter and glee in, somehow he believed the great Sasuke wasn't so keen of people breaking his bubble space. Before Sasuke could get the wrong idea Naruto lifted his leg and stomped in the innersole of Sasuke's foot, making sure to grind his heel hard.

Sasuke grit his teeth in pain and tried to step away only to realize he was still trapped under Naruto's foot. Given the circumstances, Sasuke did the mature thing and reached over to grab the blond spiky hair and started yanking it.

Naruto responded by cursing low under his breath and lacing his own fingers in Sasuke course hair intending to rip his duck hair out from the root.

As Kakashi and Iruka started to turn around, the boys abruptly release their hold and moved their hands downward around each other shoulder and smiled.

"Best friends." Naruto said with a big grin.

Naruto was stunned to hear a soft chuckle behind him, he turned to see Shikamaru and Chouji holding their hand up to their mouths to stop the laughter. He was so surprised he didn't even realize Iruka was talking until he was tapped on the shoulder.

"What?"

Iruka smiled at Naruto and repeated his question "What's your friend's names?"

He felt Sasuke staring at him through the corner of his eye and could practically feel Chouji and Shikamaru glaring at him as the silence grew.

Oh.  
Crap.

Naruto squinted his eyes and tried to remember their names. Damn it! Iruka was waiting for an answer and even Kakashi looked a little suspicious. Naruto said the first thing that came to mind.  
"That's emo-kid," pointing to Sasuke, "that's fatty and the nerd."

Naruto! You shouldn't call your friends' names like that! Iruka frowned in disbelief.

Shikamaru slouched in disinterested as Chouji looked like he was going to kill Naruto. Sasuke glared at Naruto before speaking up, "Actually the dobe," stretching the last word, "is wrong. I'm Sasuke and that's Chouji and Shikamaru."

The woman with the trench coat slipped into the conversation while Sasuke was introducing himself, "Naruto has friends!" she asked with vigor, she grabbed Naruto's ear and started to twist them in different directions while Naruto yelped in pain.

"And that would be Anko in all her bluntness." Iruka commented, as Naruto managed to reclaim his ears and rubbed them tenderly before realizing what Anko had said before.

"Hey what's that suppose to mean? I have plenty of friends!" Naruto crossed his hands over his chest and glared sourly at them.

Iruka placing a fatherly hand on the blond's head, which lessened Naruto's glare. "Well I mean you never bring anyone home, and we were starting to worry."

Naruto sighed but didn't remove Iruka's hand. "I have friends." He argued half heartily.

Kakashi raised the only eyebrow visible and poked Naruto teasingly in the chest "Not counting Konohamaru."

"Knock it off, Kakashi." Iruka swatted the masked man's hand away. He turned back to Naruto and gave him a soft smile, "We're just glad you found friends your own age is all."

The three boys watched Naruto looked downward trying to hide his shame from the two adults. When he was able to straighten out his emotions he looked back into their eyes and smiled, "You don't need to worry about me I'm good."

Kakashi's eye curled as he lightly patted Naruto's head, "We know your good kiddo, we just want to be sure you're happy."

The two men from earlier sauntered over to reclaim Naruto, they walked unsteadily and gripped the boy's shoulder for support. A third male trailed along side of them, coughing heavily into his hand, he had dark rings under his eyes and looked a bit pale, but nonetheless happy to see Naruto, "Come on Naruto, it's your turn to pick the song."

Naruto shrugged them off and attempted to reason, "Hayate I'm tired, get someone else to pick a song."

Hayate shook his head sorrowfully and indicated towards the smoking man, "Sorry kid, no can do, Asuma already made us sing 'Smoking in the Boy's Room' five times and were sick of it, we need a new song."

Suddenly a loud voice boomed from the far corner of the room, "Hey Naruto! Pick the vagina song! PICK THE VAGINA SONG!" Soon after this the voice was joined by a female shriek and cracking of knuckles.

"He's NOT picking that song!" By squinting their eyes the group could pick out two figures, one was bent low as the other pummeled his head. Coming closer - Chouji, Sasuke and Shikamaru quickly identified them as the two grown-ups that had first greeted them at the door.

"What? Why not it's a classic!" the man asked while trying to escape Tsunade's wrath.

"Jiraiya I swear if you start singing it I'll-" whatever threat Tsunade was about to make was lost to Jiraiya's less than talented voice

"I need to find a new vagina!  
Any kind of new vagina.  
It's hard to rhyme a word like vagina.  
Kevin Klein? Kind of South Carolina."

Several hands shot out and clamped over Jiraiya's mouth, while Naruto sat back and grinned and listened to them argue on forbidden words in front of minors. The three boys watched, as Naruto seemed to forget their presence and focus in on the fight. His smile was pure, content like he could watch them forever.

However this utopia was short lived as the man with the scars all over his face leaned forward and poked Naruto on the forehead. "Come on Naruto you have to start us off."  
Naruto grimaced "Ibiki I really don't feel-"

"SING!" The man dressed in green shouted from across the room, temporarily causing eardrums to break from the pressure.

"Fine! Geeze!" Naruto had a wry smile as he sung "I'm a joker."

Asuma caught on an joined in after him, "I'm a smoker."

"I'm a midnight toker." Hayate coughed out. Naruto turned to Iruka with a questionable look, "What's a toker?"

Before Iruka could answer Hayate placed a hand on Naruto's head and ruffled it softly, "Just say no kid."

Naruto was about to ask another question when Ibiki interrupted him, "I sure don't want to hurt no one."

Everyone turned to the stone-faced man and raised a skeptical eyebrow. He made a noise that could be intercepted as a laugh or a grunt.

Genma moved the sharp needle to the corner of his mouth to sing, "I'm a picker."

Gai immediacy jumped in on his cue, temporarily blinding everyone with the shine of his teeth "I'm a grinner."

"I'm a lover-" Jiraiya was cut off as Tsunade moved at speed of light and drew back her fist, "NO TSUNADE NOT IN THE MEAL TICKET!" he yelled as she punched him in the jaw.

"And I'm a sinner." Anko sung in a low slugger voice while chugging her beer.

Everyone, excluding the minors, raised their glasses and belted out the last line at the top of their lungs, "I play my music in the sun."

Kakashi sneaked skillfully behind Iruka with a tiny gleam in his eye, loosely he wrapped his arms around him and pressed his body against Iruka's. Iruka blushed and attempted to escape from Kakashi's embrace, but Kakashi bent down and whispered into Iruka's ear.

"You' re the cutest thing that I ever did see. I really love your peaches, want to shake your tree." Kakashi began swaying his hips from side to side dragging Iruka along with him. He kissed Iruka softly on the cheek and continued to sing, "Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time Oo-ee baby, I'll sure show you a good time."

Iruka's face was completely red now, when he spoke his voice quivered softly as he attempted to be stern, "Stop Kakashi, I can't think straight when you do that."

Kakashi hugged the embarrassed man closer, his eye closed and clearly happy. "When have you ever thought straight?"

The group laughed and continued to sing except for one person who broke away from the drunks, she walked up to where Naruto was sitting and the boy stared up at her questionably when she kneeled down besides him.

"Anko?" Naruto's eyes widened and attempted to step back as the women advanced closer and touched his head with her own.

Naruto rocked backwards feeling uncomfortable, but then Anko swatted his head playfully and smiled, "Calm down kid, I'm not like Orochimaru, I remembered my mom check my temperature like this."

"Oh." Naruto closed his eyes and relished the feeling of her cool forehead.

When she pulled away there was a tiny frown on her lips, "You feel a little warm kiddo do you feel sick?"

Naruto hand automatically moved to the side of his stomach as he smiled brightly at Anko, "Nope it's just stuffy down here, I'll cool down in my room."

"What about your friends?"

Naruto turned around to see Sasuke still lingering behind him. Chouji and Shikamaru had departed after the song was over and were now sitting besides Asuma; Shikamaru seemed to be in deep conversation with the man while Chouji feasted on the pretzels and peanuts sitting on the counter. Naruto met Sasuke's eyes and responded to Anko, but the sentence was more directed to Sasuke, "It doesn't matter, they're going home now."

Sasuke felt a little uneasy as Naruto stared him down, clearly he had intruded on something private. The more he watched Naruto around other people, the more curious he felt about the boy. To think the Naruto he went to school with would sing and joke around was ridiculous, yet here was living proof that Naruto had a life outside school with family. Even as he stood there, his eyes unwavering, Sasuke almost wished he had never discovered this Naruto. Because now everything he had ever done to the boy, every punch he had ever thrown, every shove into a locker, Naruto had been there watching, hidden behind emotionless eyes, hating him in silence.

He was thankful when a voice distracted Naruto and tore his eyes from Sasuke.

"Hey Naruto before you go up," Tsunade leaned back on the bar stool and fixed her eyes on Naruto, "go do a key check first."

Naruto's mouth dropped as he stared in disbelief and darted his eyes between Sasuke and Tsunade. "What! Right now? Come on Granny it's barely five!"

"Go, I want to talk to your friend here." Tsunade answered while waving him off. Naruto huffed and began to walk away but not before giving Sasuke a frown. He caught the meaning, or at least he thought he did, it could have ranged anywhere from, 'Don't screw this up.' To 'When I get back I'll mess you up so badly, your own mother won't be able to recognize you.'

Naruto proceeded to walk over to the first group and shout, "Ok drunks, hand over your keys." He was met with groans and pleas, but eventually they placed their car keys in his waiting hand. Tsunade waited until Naruto sauntered off to the next group before patting the seat, motioning him to sit down. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Naruto's loud yell, "HAND THEM OVER BUM!"

She rolled her eyes and pinched the edge of her nose with her fingers, "Oohh I need a drink."

Sasuke raised a perfectly angled eyebrow, "You already have one in your hand."

"Oh right." She downed her glass and raised it to the bartender, "Hey give me another shot." The bartender sighed and passed her the entire bottle. "Ah good man, you get a promotion!" She poured herself another glass and cradled it gently in her arms.

Ok, this was information time. Everything Sasuke could ever want to know about the enigmatic Naruto Uzumaki was within his reach, what could be more perfect then a half drunk lady who wouldn't remember anything, let alone her name in the morning?

Sasuke's mentally compiled a check out list, what should the first question be? How did Naruto learn to fight? Why was he living in a building filled with crazy drunks instead of his family? And what the hell was he doing in the middle of town, handing out gay right papers?  
Instead what came out of his mouth was-

"Has Naruto ever zoned out and become a different person?"  
Shit that had not been in the top three choices! Why the hell did he ask that?

Tsunade was not aware of Sasuke's mental badgering, as she carefully poured herself a new drink, "He still does that? Geeze, I've only seen him do it once, pretty freaky huh? Like he's watching you with no emotions and becomes unresponsive no mater what you say."

Sasuke nodded and eagerly waited for her to continue. Ok maybe that question wasn't quite so bad.

She sipped the liquid and sighed lightly before speaking. "I lost a bet to him, he said he could win a fight against anyone I set him up with, and in return he get the a room upstairs free of charge. Worst bet I've ever made, he went up against this big muscled fellow, thought it be a quick fight, one-two, the boy cries and it's over."

Tsunade eyes drew close together, recalling the memory, she gently rubbed the rim of her empty glass and a low pitch sound echoed in the room.

"When he got in the ring, his eyes got an impassive look in them, Naruto never even took a swing just stood there and he let the guy beat the crap out of him. Funny thing is, everytime he got knocked down the brat would stand back up and wait for the guy to hit him again, craziest thing I ever saw."

Sasuke didn't think it was so crazy, he had seen first hand how Naruto would rise from the tiles of the bathroom floor and wait for them to strike him again. Sasuke repressed a shiver when he remembered Naruto's haunting eyes from inside the dumpster. He turned back to Tsunade who was staring out into space, lost in her own little world.

"So he lost the fight?" Sasuke quickly asked, not wanting to lose this conversation to vodka.

It took little time for Tsunade to respond, she frowned and her mouth twisted like she had swallowed a lemon, but then relaxed as a tiny smile formed on her lips. "Nope, eventually the other guy got sick of hitting a ten year old and forfeited, people were booing, making him look like the bad guy. Plus it's bad for business, so Naruto won the room, and I lost boarding money."

She lifted the glass to her mouth and stared at the liquid with a light smile, "Course it's not so bad, having the brat around that is, I've never had any kid of my own. They're noisy and loud, always causing trouble." She tipped the glass closer and drained the cup before slamming it against the table and smacking her lips loudly, "But still, he's ok for a brat."

Sasuke pressed a hand to his temple and tried to process all he had just learned. Somehow it didn't seem right. The Naruto from school was so much different then this Naruto. Sasuke couldn't get his head around it, what made him act this way? Why would he put up with getting beaten everyday if he could fight back? What was so important to Naruto that he had to keep changing his personality around? All these question swarmed his mind.

"But why would he go through so much for a stupid room"? The question slipped from Sasuke's mouth without his consent.

"Well, I assume it's because he wanted to stay close to his guardian." She replied to his surprise.

Guardian? He turned and glanced at the woman who was smiling at her reflection in the liquid. She looked up and pointed to the back of the room where many of the other adults were gathering.

"Iruka, his guardian, nice guy blushing like a tomato over there, with Kakashi grinding up against him."

Sasuke turned around and identified the man Naruto had called Iruka, he saw that Kakashi still had a tight hold on him and seemed to be whispering softly in his ear. Tsunade's voice brought him back to their conversation.

"He's living in one of the rooms upstairs with Kakashi, but there's not enough room up for the three of them. So Naruto lives in the room four doors down from them."

"So Iruka isn't Naruto's father? Then who is?" Sasuke quickly ran down the list of all the men he had just seen but none of them seem to have Naruto's genetic features, but he had to admit, some of their personality were somewhat similar to Naruto's.

Tsunade shook her head regretfully "No one here but I think it's safe to say Iruka and Kakashi are the closest thing Naruto has to parents."

Sasuke rested his chin against his folded hands, Naruto was just one mystery after another. "Where's his real family then? Why doesn't he live with them?"

Tsunade began to answer but then shut her mouth with a snap, realizing they were going into dangerous territory. "I think those are questions you should be asking Naruto himself."

Sasuke sighed, that was not the answer he was hoping for but accepted it for now.

They sat silent for a minute, Tsunade let the conversation muddle around Sasuke's brain and tried to decided herself if this was the right course of action. She didn't want to see Naruto get hurt, but at the same time knew that sometimes chances needed to be taken for the greater good, especially for Naruto's good. As she spoke, she wondered how she had changed over the last couple of years and started to care for the boy's future more then her own.

"You know what's the best and worst thing about Naruto? He knows what it's like to have nothing. The good part of that is that he can see how wonderful life is because he started out with nothing. Yet at the same time he's frightened he can lose everything he's gained if the truth comes out. So he doubts people and is always worried about losing loved ones, he even worries about gaining love ones at the chance that he might lose them. It took years for him to trust us, but we're not exactly what he needs."

Sasuke thought back and remembered how startled and afraid Naruto was when Anko leaned in too close.

"What he needs is friends who won't judge him, that he can feel comfortable and at ease with." She nodded as if agreeing with herself, "Yep, he defiantly needs a friend who will open that metal door behind the bar, walk up three flights of stairs, make a left down the hallway to apartment 11C, and check on him." She resumed to sip her beverage.

Sasuke blinked and slowly absorbed the information, he then smirked and stood up, walked over to Shikamaru and Chouji and pulled them to the metal door hidden behind the bar. Tsunade saw them leave and smiled when a presence sat down at the unoccupied seat next to her and let out a tiny grumble.

She carefully measured out a portion of her drink and passed it to her companion, with a delicate sip she spoke gleefully, "I'm winning."

Jiraiya gripped his glass tightly and glared at his long time friend, "That proves nothing, all guys bring their friends over to their house!"

Tsunade just smiled wiry and let the taste of liquor slowly linger on her tongue before swallowing it, "He's never brought a girl home."

Jiraiya's face, that was already red from the vast amounts of liquor he had consumed, turned an interesting shade of purple before he sputtered out, "It's a guy thing, you won't understand!"

Tsunade sighed and felt the tinniest about of pity for her friend as she spoke, "Give it up, he's gay."

Jiraiya exploded in rage as he slammed a fist against the table causing the cups to wobble unsteadily, "Never! Not with me around, there's no way he's gay. That boy's straight as an arrow!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes upward at his utter denial, "He was raised by Iruka and Kakashi since he was ten, they've been a bigger influence for him then you."

Jiraiya huffed and calmed himself down. He wasn't going to made a scene like last time, no he was going to control his inner rage and be calm and nonchalant. He pictured his happy place, a hot springs with naked women and toads. Ah yes pure utopia, "What do you know?" He mumbled while drowning his glass.

Tsunade smiled and felt her gambling genes peek, plus she loved pissing him off. "Hmm lets up the stakes, which one do you think he's gay for?"

Screw calmness and freakin' toads, "HE'S NOT GAY!"

She continued, as if his outburst had never happened, "Personally, I think it's the duck haired one."

Jiraiya, abandoning all sense of maturity, stuck his finger in his ears and shouted, "LALALALA I'M NOT LISTENING!"

Hayate and Genma made their way over to the wailing pervert and smirking woman. Hayate glanced at both of them and turned to his friend, "I'll bet against whatever Tsunade is betting for."

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The three boys made their way up the stairs, trading information as they walked. Sasuke retold Tsunade's story, making sure to include exactly how Naruto gained the apartment and why. When he was finished, Shikamaru's eyes were furred together in deep thought,

"Where's his real family then?" They had just made it to the second staircase and were almost at their destination.

"She won't tell me."

Shikamaru nodded and began sharing his own investigation, "I was talking to Asuma, seems like Naruto picked up fighting from all of them. Everyone downstairs specializes in some sort of fighting major. Tsunade and Jiraiya own this building, and use it for cage fighting on the weekends, Genma deals with acupuncture and pressure points. Asuma is certified in boxing, Gai owns a gym, Anko learned off the streets, and Ibiki used to work for the police, specializing in interrogation. Kakashi is some type of martial arts teacher, Hayate and Iruka work part time as self defense instructors."

By that time they had reached the third floor and made a left down the hallway to 11C. They stood in front of the door, nervously wondering what else there was to learn about the boy. With a slight hesitation, Chouji knocked on the wooden panel. When there was no answer he knocked a little harder and the sound of movements could be heard through the thick door.

"Iruka?" the voice questioned and drew closer to the door, "That you?"

The boys held their breath as waited for him.

"I'm coming, give me a minute." Naruto slid open the door, he had removed the dirty jacket and was wearing a loose black shirt with a red symbol in the front, and his hair was slightly messy, as if the jacket had been pulled over his head.

Naruto wore a large smile that fell as soon as he saw who it was, without another word he shut the door on their faces. Chouji quickly grasped the doorknob before Naruto could lock it and pushed against it. Shikamaru and Sasuke also joined in as together they pressed their full weight against the door.

On the other side Naruto was leaning heavily against the door, but was no match for three teenager's strength as they managed to push open the door. Naruto tripped and fell on the carpet, he quickly stood up but it was no use, they already were inside and had shut the door behind them.

Chaos soon erupted, and the three friends took off in different directions to confuse Naruto. Chouji darted towards the hum of the refrigerator while Shikamaru pushed past, Naruto and entered a large room that must have served as a living room. Sasuke made a right and found himself in a decent size room with pictures taped up on the walls containing the residence of the building.

The only surprising factor of the room was that upon the group laid mountains of blankets ranging from all sizes and colors, some were even made from silk. There were also huge pillows that looked expensive, there was a tiny one and big ones scattered on the blankets. Strange thing was, there were all these blankets yet no mattress. While Sasuke pondered this concept, Naruto was in a state of panic.

His three worst enemies were within his safe home, snooping though his stuff. He managed to catch Shikamaru, and was tugging him by the back of his shirt towards the door, the boy was not making an effort to escape or resisting but acted as dead weight being slowly dragged to the front door.

A crash was heard from the kitchen and Naruto released his hold on the lazy genius and sprinted to the room in alarm. Shikamaru didn't move to investigate any further, instead he leaned against the wall and watched Naruto freak out. He sighed, as another crash was heard, "So troublesome."

"Hey, get out of there!" Naruto was ready to pull his hair out when he found Chouji look in his refrigerator. He was about to yell again when Chouji's face emerged from behind the door red in anger.

"EGGS! Why are there only eggs in your refrigerator?"

Naruto was temporally stunned and a small part of his brain questioned why Chouji was more upset over eggs then Naruto was for invading his house.

"All you have is eggs?" The voice spoke from behind him and Naruto twisted to see Sasuke had entered the room and his eyes were boring into his own. What the hell was going on? It was one thing to attack him in public but to walk into his home like they owned it? It wasn't like he could turn off his mind like in school, there was no benefit from that, they could just continued to roam within his house. Naruto's brain automatically switched to sarcastic mode as he faced Sasuke.

"Not true. In the freezer I have my old family's recipe for ice."

"You have five cartons of eggs, a dozen in each carton, sixty eggs in all. That could last you two months if you eat one a day or twenty days if you eat one at every meal." Shikamaru listed mindlessly.

Naruto felt like his head was going to explode. How did the nerd just appear with out him knowing? "Did you just do that all in your head? You really are a freak."

Naruto suddenly felt a bit unstable and leaned against the counter, all this running around wasn't helping his headache. He looked up to see the three boys staring at him curiously, he unexpectedly felt weak with dread. He couldn't fight them off like last time, he was tired and out of breath. They could do whatever they wanted and the chances of him actually being able to stop them were slim.

But this was his home, like hell he was going down without a fight.

Naruto pushed away from the counter and took small steps towards them, he could feel the heat around his eyes warming up. Naruto raised his fist and bent in a defensive stance. He was breathing heavily and wobbling but he was still standing. He saw Sasuke move toward him and abruptly closed his eyes and waited for the impact.

Instead he felt a cold hand press against his clammy forehead, for a moment all thought of fighting vanished as the cool flesh soothed his headache. Naruto snapped back to reality and tried to step back but only met the surface of the counter, Sasuke followed and replace his hand back on Naruto's brow.

"What are you doing?"

Sasuke ignored the question and placed another hand on his own head, "You have a fever, your wound is probably infected."

"Why do you care? You're the reason I have that gash in the first place." Naruto found the strength to push him away and instinctively went to where he felt the safest part of his house was; his bedroom. He didn't expect to be followed or for the same cool hands to push their way under his shirt.

"W-what the hell! Get off of me!"

Once again he was ignored, as rough hands searched for his cut, but even in his weakened state, Naruto had enough strength to keep Sasuke's hands from lifting up his shirt and exposing his stomach. Sasuke grew frustrated and tried to place his whole body weight on Naruto and force him down, but Naruto griped his wrist and braced his bare feet against Sasuke's chest, he used the last on his strength to lifted him up in the air.

At that moment two heads poked through the doorway.

"Where's your medicine cabinet?" Shikamaru asked clearly, uninterested at the sight of Naruto and Sasuke 'playing' airplane.

Naruto twisted his head in shock and stared at the lazy teen. "I'm all out." He answered truthfully not knowing what else to say. Shikamaru nodded and disappeared into the living room, Chouji stayed behind and looked at Naruto like he had grown another head.

"What!" Sasuke's body weight was starting to put a strain on Naruto's legs and his mind was so jumbled with confusion it was hard to think straight.

"Do you really only have eggs?"  
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Chouji left and Naruto returned his attention to the hovering Sasuke. Was he closer then before?

With dread Naruto realized that his knees were buckling causing Sasuke's face to loom closer to his own. Naruto swallowed thickly as his knees gave out and Sasuke landed heavily between Naruto's legs. Sasuke did a face plant on Naruto's stomach and his hands grabbed Naruto's hips to lessen the fall.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling in disbelief, "You got to be fucking kidding me." Naruto muttered, as Sasuke didn't waste a moment and slid his hands under, trying to find the cut. He dragged Sasuke's hands out by the wrist and managed to shove him away from his stomach and sit up.

His eyes met with Sasuke angry ones and he was shocked when the black haired boy snapped at him. "What's the big fucking deal? Do you have an embarrassing tattoo on you or something?"

Naruto scooted away from the boy and angrily retorted in a single breath, "As a matter of fact upon my back, the entire Old Testament is mapped out in chronological order, starting from the nape of my neck, stretching down to my tailbone. On my arms are the first three chapters of 'Paradise Lost' written in outlandish gothic micro-font. My legs reveal the origin of the universe, but I'm a mean evil jerk, and never wear shorts or short sleeves to sap you all of sanity from the sheer mystery of it all. So hands off!" his fingers dug into Sasuke's arms as the boy once again attempted to lift up his shirt during his speech.

Unfortunately for Naruto, through their bickering, his over sized shirt managed to ride up slightly causing Sasuke's eyes to widen in surprise.

"What the hell is that?"

Naruto instinctively wrapped his arms around his stomach and growled out, "None of your business."

"It looks like toilet paper."

"I said it's none of you busin-wait what?"

"Toilet paper," Sasuke said slowly as if speaking to an idiot, he held up a ripped sheet with a tiny amount of blood on it, "you have it wrapped around your stomach."

Naruto looked down in a daze and realize he did indeed have toilet around his abdomen in order to cover up his wound.

'Oh right, I ran out of first-aid bandages ,' Naruto berated himself, he had to use toilet paper. Without thinking Naruto ripped the white paper from his skin, tiny patches of paper stuck to the wet part of his skin. He ignored this as he balled the tissue into a tiny ball and threw it behind him.

Sasuke made a face of disgust, "That's gross dobe."

Naruto rolled his eyes and began picking the tiny white paper attached to his cut, "So what, it's my house, I'll do what I want."

Sasuke scowled and picked up the edge of the balled up tissue, careful not to touch any blood. Now that he was familiar with the small apartment he easily made his way towards the kitchen and opened up the trashcan to drop it in. Along the way he muttered under his breath, "So gross, trash belongs in the trash."

"What did you say?"

Sasuke turned around to see Naruto not an inch from his face staring coldly at him. He fought the urge to step away from those cold eyes, instead he smirked down at the boy and began to speak, "What? All I said was trash belongs in-"

Hands meet his shoulders and forced him to stumble and smack the back of his head against the wall, he slid down the wall and clutched his head in pain.

"What the fuck was that for!" yelling caused the pain to amplify in his head, he looked up and saw the foot coming in almost slow motion before it hit his stomach. Sasuke huddled over clutching his stomach and breathed threw his teeth to lessen the pain.

"Get out."

Sasuke looked up again to see Naruto staring at him with cold eyes. The same cold eyes that would look at him with no reaction, no feelings or emotions attached to what he was doing. But yet, his voice trembled when he spoke as if he were holding the anger within himself.

"This is my house, and you were not invited, get out now."

Sasuke stood up and spoke softly, "Naruto I'm sor-"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Sasuke watched wordlessly as Naruto's eyes finally expressed an emotion. An emotion he kept hidden beneath his stoic mask during school.

Hate. Deep rooted hatred directed towards Sasuke.

Sasuke allowed him self to be pushed out the doorway soundlessly as the door slammed against the frame. He stared at the peeling door frame, and placed a hand on either sides of it, leaning heavily against the door.

"Naruto I- I didn't mean."

A moment later the door swung open wildly, Chouji and Shikamaru were shoved out with a dumbfounded expression on their face. Naruto's face was flush from anger and embarrassment.

"Them too!" he yelled before slamming the door on their faces.

The three boys stared at the door in disbelief, listening quietly for signs of the blond boy. Almost faintly a tiny sniffle could be heard muffled by the thick door, followed by a loud thunk as if someone had dropped something rather heavy. Chouji felt a lump of guilt rise in the back of his throat and raised a hand to knock on the door to see if the boy was all right. He was stopped by Sasuke's hand and then led back down the hallway, far away from the blond boy and his muffled cries.

"Come on lets go."

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* * *

**Hey people I'm letting you in on a special secret! It's a day to celebrate! Exactly 3 years ago I saved my own life.**

**Doesn't make much sense? Its not suppose to but it doesn't matter. I made a choice that day and I'm proud of myself. Cuz even if I'm not perfect there is a lot of things I am. Like messy, easily distracted, ditzy, random, clumsy, immature, loud mouth me. It's who I am. And that's not a good reason to die. So I made a promise to myself that no matter what shit comes along no matter how horrible it may seem to never consider that option again and to never give up. **

**Quote of the day:**

_When I ran, I didn't feel like a runaway  
When I escaped, I didn't feel like I got away  
There's more to living than only surviving  
Maybe I'm not there but I'm still trying_

Hope everyone enjoyed chapter 6! Please tell me what you think so far!

Peace

sam


	7. Sorry not enough

Thanks for supporting my day! I always do something for myself as a present so share it with you guys made me really happy. I didn't even tell you what happened after that day. Well a few days later I started high school and met this strange girl (kate!) who annoyed the shit out of me. I hated her guts cuz she was so strange, always reading her books never talking to anyone, even as anti-social as I was I still talked a lot. The worst part was since I had no friends I kept getting stuck with her as a partner in gym, which sucked cuz I'm very athletic and this girl was the most uncoordinated wimp I had ever met. And weird dear god is she weird, for some reason we talked about zombies, peg legs, arm pit hair…. understand it she a freak! Never cursing in less were playing video games. Dropping things tripping over nothing such a klutz! But after a while I started to find her interesting, I'd be excited to go to school (imagine that) just cuz I couldn't wait to talk to her. Sure she was still weird but I started to like that about her, the fact that was different from everyone and so aloof never caring how weird she sounded and just talking about whatever was on her mind. I started to compare everyone else to her instead of the other way around, so far no one has ever measured up to her and I very much doubt they ever will.

It seems some people misunderstood Naruto's anger, sorry my bad I should have made it more obvious but when I wrote that line from chapter 2 it was meant for a reference in the chapter 6 so my brain just assumed everyone would get it. So to clear it up when Sasuke said 'trash belongs in the trash' Naruto was remembering the dumpster incident and yaaa ta da?

Special thanks- **miss** **Shenevive** **thank you so much for fixing my all mistake(and that I mean pretty much every other word), please check out her fics! **

Also to miss Nyaron once again for a new picture! If your not able to copy the link please look on my profile at the very bottom! This is a picture of last chapter of Naruto and Sasuke doing the airplane in chibi form!

http/i23. albums/b383 / Akio-kun/chibifight . jpg

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**Sticks and Stones **

Chapter 7-Sorry not enough

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_Come as you are, as you were,_

_As I want you to be_

_As a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy_

_Take your time, hurry up_

_The choice is yours, don't be late_

_Take a rest as a friend as an old memoria_

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Naruto shoved the two boys away and slammed the door shut, he pressed all his weight against the door in case they tried to barge their way in again. When nothing happened, Naruto's arms weakened and he fell heavily against the door. For a second he sat there and stared upwards at the ceiling with hollow eyes, his chest heaving up and down as he inhaled and exhaled slowly. Naruto cursed angrily when he felt something-wet slide down his cheek. He slammed the back of his head against the door twice, disregarding the pain.

"Shit," he mumbled, wiping his eyes roughly with the back of his arm, "I'm not trash, I'm not worthless, I'm not." His muttering didn't seem to comfort him as he crawled away from the door and stood up shakily. Naruto closed his eyes and slowly made his way to his bedroom using the wall as a guide. When he reached the piles of blankets he collapse into them and curled around until they wrapped tightly, creating a cocoon of blankets with him safely trapped in the middle. He stared up at the sky that turned pink as the sun set, his favorite part of the house was the sunroof directly above his bed.

He loved waking up in the morning to the sun's warm rays and falling asleep at night under the stars and the moon. Eventually Naruto's eye grew heavy and closed shut, his breathing slowly evened out. He fell into a deep slumber.

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He was roughly shaken back into the real world after a couple of hours. Naruto grumbled and tried to shift away from the one disturbing his beauty sleep. But the force was not about to let him go as he was pulled back and annoyingly tapped on the nose. Naruto gave in and tried to open his eyes but they were sealed shut by dried up tears.

"Iruka?" his voice asked groggy.

Naruto's hand slipped out of the blankets and blindly felt around for Iruka. When his hand met a solid object he pushed his way through the blankets and opened a bleary eye. The person was too fuzzy to make out but Naruto felt a sense of relief when he identified Iruka's trademark ponytail. Naruto smiled and launched him self at the man, hugging him tightly. The body stiffened upon impact but Naruto took no notice as he placed his chin on Iruka's shoulder and cried loudly. Naruto felt a little shameful that he couldn't hold anything back, and for a moment feared Iruka might push him away. His fears diminished as the body shifted and a hand came up to Naruto's back to return the hug. Naruto felt a new wave of tears rise and words spilled out from his mouth uncontrollably.

"Iruka, I hate them," the hand on his back tightened, but then another hand slid upward and patted Naruto's hair for comfort, urging him to continue, "I hate them so much Iruka, everything's falling apart. I don't want this, I don't want to do this anymore. Help me." Naruto pressed himself closer and burred his head into Iruka's neck muffling his words, "Please help me." Iruka hugged him tighter and Naruto felt warmth creep into his skin, this is how it's suppose to be, a parent that loves his child unconditionally. No need for snooping classmates getting in the way of his dreams, no more loneliness, just the warmth of a parent's love. Naruto snuggled further into the shoulder and smiled.

"So troublesome." The voice vibrated in Naruto's chest

Holy shit. That was not Iruka's calm soothing voice above him.

For a few seconds Naruto attempted to come up with a different reason for why Iruka's voice sounded so much like the nerd's voice. A few suggestions his mind provided with involved aliens and an abduction, but that wasn't right, aliens don't abduct people with ponytails, at least not in Naruto's fever stricken mind. Unable to find a good reason Naruto was forced to face the truth, his fever had killed him during his nap and he was in hell.

Steeling himself, Naruto looked upward and literally came face to face with Shikamaru. He was sitting on the boy's crossed legs, with his arms still wrapped around Shikamaru's neck.

Shikamaru stared at him in concern, his hand still around Naruto's back in a half hug, and the other hand nestled in blond hair. To Shikamaru, Naruto's eyes were a glossy blue surrounded by a rim of red. He never remembered Naruto's eyes being this blue before, in fact, Shikamaru always thought the boy's eyes looked dull and colorless. But now he looked at the eyes carefully, stricken by how unmistakably blue they were.

Beyond embarrassed, Naruto cringed and pushed himself out of Shikamaru's lap. He landed heavily on his butt before scooting away, still tangled in his sheets. He could feel the heat rising around his eyes and moved to cover his face.

"Am I blushing?" Naruto peeked through his fingers and viewed his surroundings, he noted that Chouji and Sasuke were standing behind the genius, watching Naruto perplexed. Shikamaru simply sat crossed legged watching him carefully, "Damn it, I am blushing!" Naruto averted his eyes and mumbled something incomprehensible.

This was not acceptable, Shikamaru leaned closer and placed his hands on his knees to ask, "What'd you say?"

"I said, I got boogers on your shirt." Naruto growled but the effects were dampened when he raised an arm to wipe the trail of snot from his red nose.  
Shikamaru sighed, irritated at the boy's discomfort and shrugged "It's okay."

Naruto untangled himself from the sheets and stood up, he held out a hand and sent a nasty glare at Shikamaru, "Give it to me." Shikamaru tilted his head in confusion and Naruto's glare lessened a tiny bit, "I'll wash it ok?"

"Sure, whatever." Shikamaru grabbed his shirt by the collar and pulled it over his head, placing it in Naruto's awaiting hands and watched the boy open a door to reveal a washroom. Naruto squirted some chemicals on the shirt and set it wash before turning around nervously and faced his enemies.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, while walking slowly up to the three boys, his nervousness seemed to vanish as he stopped in front of them with his hands crossed over his chest, meeting their gaze with confidence.

Chouji brought a hand from behind his back and revealed a brown bag carrying a delicious aroma of deep fried chicken and noodles, Chouji smiled, "We come with food." "And medicine and bandages." Shikamaru pointed out while yawning tiredly.

Sasuke said nothing, but he watched in amusement as Naruto peered at them a little lost and baffled, "But why-"

He was interrupted by someone knocking on the front door, Naruto moved towards it but was stopped by Sasuke's hand.

"Shikamaru will get it, you sit down."

Naruto began to protest, but Shikamaru was already on his way to the door and Chouji left to find the kitchen and unpack the Chinese food, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone in the room.

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Tsunade waited impatiently outside Naruto's door after having some coffee and only mildly awake. Usually it wasn't in her nature to check up on Naruto, but she heard Anko say he had a fever and she felt slightly worried, so she drank a little more. When she saw the three brats bolt down the stairs as if the building was burning down, she felt even more worried, so she finished off a bottle of Dialgo liquor, which somehow reminded her of Christmas and cookies. So after a few more drinks she was able to stagger up the stairs and knock on the door, all the while grumbling how a certain stupid brat causing trouble interrupted her happy hour, and wondering if it was unhealthy that liquor reminded her of Christmas.

She was just about to break open the door with her brute strength, when it swung open to reveal a half-naked boy with a scowl on his lips. She stared in dismay and the boy raised his eyebrow when she glanced down the hallways and even into Naruto's apartment, evidently looking for someone. Growing irritated, he cleared his throat to catch her attention, "Can I help you?"

"Is Orochimaru here?"

"Um, no, this is Naruto's apartment." Should Naruto really be growing up with these kinds of adults, this one wasn't a great example of maturity. The women stared at him and Shikamaru grew uncomfortable, "Well, good night." he said, slowly closing the door softly as if she might attack at any moment. When the door clicked shut he heard her shout joyfully and race down the stairs screaming:

"JIRAIYA! I'M WINNING! I'M WINNING!"

So troublesome, this definitely was an unlivable place for a kid. Shikamaru shrugged and headed towards the kitchen to help his friend take out the food.

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Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other from across the room, testing each other, waiting for the other one to speak. The silence stretched and finally Sasuke sighed, "Sit down."

Naruto scowled, not liking being ordered around, and as a sign of rebellion, he planted his feet further apart and glared at the boy in front of him, "Why should I?" He smirked as the boy rubbed his head irritably.

Sasuke looked away, not able to meet Naruto's eyes. He was starting to hate those blue eyes that crawled under his skin, soaking him will guilt. But at least it was better then those damn emotionless eyes that would wait around for the next hit. "Fine, we can do this standing up."

"Do what standing up? Hey! What the hell! Get out of there!" Sasuke had crossed the room and once again reached underneath Naruto's shirt. Naruto blushed deeply, as he felt cold hands skim over his overheated body, trying not to think how pleasant it felt. He wormed his way out of Sasuke's hold and darted towards the door.

However, Sasuke proved to be too fast this time as he snatched Naruto's wrist, pulling him back. Naruto felt the air rush by him as he landed none to gently on the blankets. Mentally, he screamed in horror as Sasuke leaned over and with one hand attempted to hold him down, the other hand tried unsuccessfully to open the first aid kit. "Dobe you'll bleed to death if you don't wrap that up! Just let me do it!"

"No! I can do it myself!" Naruto squirmed beneath Sasuke, becoming more frantic as he thrashed his arms and legs.

Growing frustrated Sasuke let go of the writhing boy and flung the first aid kit at Naruto, "Fine, you do it."

Naruto sat up immediately and rubbed his sore wrist, he picked up the kit and ripped it open, maybe a little to hard because the plastic top was torn of it's case and slammed against the wall. Naruto smiled sheepishly and picked up on of the bandages scattered on the floor. It was wrapped in a layer of plastic, which refused to be torn even when Naruto used his teeth.

Stupid evil plastic.

Naruto looked up to see Sasuke still standing there obviously amused by Naruto's efforts, "Do you have to watch?"

Sasuke smirked, he sat down across from Naruto and folded his hands in his lap, "Yes, because I know you can't do it."

Naruto childishly stuck out his tongue, but then gave a shout of joy when the plastic finally ripped. Naruto's eyes strayed up to the boy and was startled to see Sasuke lightly smiling.

Spinning around so he wasn't facing him, Naruto pulled off his black shirt and revealed his tiny frame hidden under all the clothes. Sasuke's smile fell as he felt queasy, looking at Naruto's back. Bruises of all kinds ran down from his spine, ending at his tailbone. There were fresh ones, which were multicolored, ranging from deep purple to a sickening yellow, there were others that were starting to heal, but still left a trace, signifying it's existence. Sasuke's eyes zoomed in on the cut on Naruto's side. There was a little puss growing over the wound, and the edges were burning red. He watched Naruto twist to his right, unable to see the exact damage of the wound and slap a bandage somewhat off to the side. He reached over to put his shirt back on when a hand stopped him.

"Dobe, just let me do it."

Naruto bowed into his chest and covered his stomach with his hands, Sasuke ripped away Naruto's fingers mercilessly, even as Naruto shouted in panic. "No wait, don't look!"

A spiral.

Starting from the bellybutton and coving his stomach the spiral spread, there were tiny markings that had stretched over the years causing then to be eligible. Sasuke pushed closer to inspect the coil, even as Naruto struggled and kicked at him. Something was definitely wrong with the tattoo, for it was raised a couple of inches from the skin and was a deep black. Yet at the same time, there was something all too familiar about the scar, he has seen this something where before. Sasuke looked up at Naruto's terrified eyes and figured it out: his whiskers.

Naruto's whiskers were the exact color and texture as the spiral.

Naruto had stopped struggling and was now laying still looking upward at sunroof training his eyes not to meet with Sasuke's. He flinched when he felt a cold finger begin to outline his stomach markings, starting from the inner spiral and working towards the outside. Sasuke was surprised by the rough texture of the skin, weren't tattoos suppose to be smooth? He touched the unidentifiable markings besides the swirl and felt the same uneven texture. He moved his hands up to Naruto's face, pressing down on the whiskers, noting that it was the same feeling as the one on Naruto's abdomen.

Realty came back in focus when Sasuke felt his jaw explode in pain, he was knocked several feet away and Naruto sat up rubbing his the top of his raw knuckles.

"Do that again, and I'll beat you till your unconscious." Naruto's voice was hoarse as his eyes became sharp and jerky, constantly glancing between Sasuke and the door. Naruto struggled to stand up, using the wall as a crutch, he leaned down and picked up his discarded shirt reaching on the inside and rearranging it. He bowed to pick up another bandage, since the one he had on originally had fallen off during their tussle, and jerked back when a hand holding a new unwrapped bandage was thrust under his nose.

"I'm sorry for calling you trash earlier." Naruto followed the arm and looked up to see Sasuke standing a few feet from him, watching him carefully. Naruto looked down again and reached to receive the bandage and grabbed the edge of it. "Forget it. I don't care." Sasuke's hand closed around the bandage before Naruto could take it, Naruto scowled and tried to pry Sasuke's fingers apart, but froze when Sasuke spoke again.

"I can't just forget it."

Naruto averted his eyes from the boy and tugged firmly on the ace bandage, ripping it from Sasuke's hands. "Then try harder." He sat down and unrolled the gauze, stretching it to the limits. He pressed one end under his armpit and tried to wrap it around his cut, but failed when the end escaped from his grasp. Feeling fed up with the whole thing, Naruto was about to forget it and move on, when he felt an arm graze the side of his stomach. He quickly spun around to see Sasuke sitting behind him with the ace bandage in his hands, placing it carefully on his cut and wrapping it around Naruto's waist.

Naruto held still as another arm reached over to pass the wrapping back, the hands were slow and surprisingly gentle, barely touching his skin. It almost felt like a loose embrace, Naruto inwardly scowled, reminding himself that Sasuke would rather super glue his ass cheeks together, then show Naruto any sign of affection. So for the first time, Naruto allowed someone else to tend his cut.

Sasuke lowered his eyes and mentally counted off the number of bruises upon Naruto's back, the ones on the lower part of his back were on random spots, barely noticeable, but his shoulders were a different sight altogether. The bruises had become a mesh, blending together until it could be seen as one gigantic bruise, covering the top half of Naruto's back. One particular arrangement of welts caught Sasuke's eye, on Naruto forearm, there were five small bruises. Sasuke reach forward and touched them softly, lining them up exactly to his fingertips. His stomach twisted uncomfortably when he realized that it had probably been his hand that had formed these bruises. He snatched his palm away and quickly focused on the task, wincing when the wrapping pressed tightly on one of the larger bruises, but Naruto either didn't notice or care.

"You know, my brother once said that to me," Naruto twisted his head to glance at Sasuke but the boy didn't raise his own head, "Called me trash right in front of my parents, not directly - but still, you could tell it was meant for me." Naruto faced the front again and looked down to watch Sasuke's hands loop around him once more.

Sasuke picked up a clip and snapped it on the bandage, "They didn't say anything, my mom and dad, they didn't try to defend me, or make him apologize."  
Sasuke placed the second clip on the bandage and admired his work. They sat in silence, neither ready to talk. Naruto sighed and twisted around to face Sasuke, watching him carefully, "Did you say anything?"

"No." Sasuke answered sharply, not liking where this conversation was going. This was about figuring out all Naruto's secrets, not exploring Sasuke's mind. Although in the back of his mind, Sasuke wondered if this was true, since he had been the one to bring up his brother.

"Why not?" Naruto's eyes stared at him, making Sasuke feel uncomfortable. He thought back to that day, he remembered his mother and father sitting across from him sharing the newspaper. Itachi was drinking his black coffee, and Sasuke was enjoying his fruit loops. Without warning Sasuke's elbow had slipped, knocking over his cereal bowl and all it contained. Sasuke remembered glancing up at his parents worriedly, hoping they wouldn't be too mad for making yet another mistake. It was Itachi who stood up and walked away from the table, sighing in disgust. He poured the rest of his coffee down the drain and retrieved his backpack from the floor, which had luckily not gotten soaked from the spill. Itachi stood over Sasuke, and the smaller boy shrunk away when his brother spoke, "Trash belongs in the trash, brother." Itachi's eyes were resting coolly on Sasuke, as he nodded towards the mess, "Clean it up."

Sasuke was brought back from the memory as a Band-Aid hit him squarely on the nose. He looked up to see Naruto glaring at him, obviously not liking to be ignored, "Why didn't you say anything?" He repeated, leaning back with his hands crossed protectively over his stomach.

Sasuke tried to think back, remembering the setting, the smell of coffee, and the sight of milk spattered all over the kitchen floor. "I just assumed my parents would."

Naruto's mouth twitched slightly, but the rest of his face became impassive as he began cleaning up the mess they had made. He placed all the first aid bandages back in its container, closing it with a snap. He didn't even glance at Sasuke as walked past him to the close door.

"What are you doing?"

Naruto open the door quickly and stepped back as Shikamaru and Chouji tumbled over each other and on to the floor. They grinned up sheepishly as Naruto poked Chouji's stomach with his toe, "You know, I don't think it takes that long to unpack Chinese food."

Chouji grinned at Naruto's foot and rolled away, nearly crushing Shikamaru, "Ya well, we were just-" "Listening to our conversation." Naruto interrupted, while helping Shikamaru untangle himself from Chouji. Shikamaru shrugged, stood up and held out a hand to his friend while answering Naruto, "Something like that."

The greasy bag was crushed beneath Chouji, and Naruto quickly scooped it up, peering inside with a tiny smile, "Did you even go to the kitchen?"  
"Well..no." Chouji rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and forced out a nervous smile.  
Naruto placed the bag on the floor momentarily and fixed his inside out shirt. Shikamaru and Chouji had to bite back their astonishment when they saw Naruto's battered shoulders. Shikamaru looked to Sasuke for reassurance and received a tiny nod to confirm his thoughts. Chouji swallowed lightly, "Naruto...your back?" The blond boy glanced over at Chouji and slid his shirt roughly over his head, "I fall, a lot."

They said nothing as Naruto moved to the center of the room and plopped down on one of many blankets, he reach down into the bag and pulled out several egg rolls, the scent floating across the room, making the other three boy's stomachs rumble. Naruto tossed the bag towards them before cramming as much food as possible into his mouth. The three boys approached him carefully and when Naruto didn't make any signs of uneasiness, sat down. Sasuke sat to his left, Chouji on his right, and Shikamaru in front while placing the bag in the middle of their awkward circle. Their uneasiness fell as Naruto ignored their presence, and dipped his egg roll in duck sauce. By that time, Chouji already had his hands down the bag and was sorting through the fatty food, Shikamaru opened a bottle of soda and Sasuke just sat amused as Naruto attempted to stuff three egg rolls in his mouth at once.  
"Dope, your going to choke."  
Naruto just disregarded him and grabbed the white rice, mixing it with the sesame chicken sauce. Sasuke watched on, his mind raced, trying to remember the questions he had lined up to ask, however Chouji beat him to the punch.

"So what's up with the food status in your house? Why all the eggs?" He had apparently satisfied his stomach for now and swiped Shikamaru's soda, who didn't seem very upset or caring at the moment. Naruto snorted as he inhaled the rice at an alarming speed. "Food's not my first priority."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and tried to grab some of Naruto's rice but the boy covered it protectively. "Funny, I think food would be right up there with breathing." Ignoring him, Naruto resumed to eat and talk with his mouth full "And it's cheap" he swallowed to clear the food from his mouth, "Very cheap, ninety cents a box a few dollars could last me half a year." He reached back in the bag for more but meet with empty hands, he sighed and crinkled the bag up, disappointed

Shikamaru nodded. mentally calculating the cost, "So what are you saving the money for?" Naruto's body visibly stiffened before he climbed to his feet and scooped the empty bag up and left the room. The three boys threw worried glances at each other, but relaxed when Naruto reappeared with empty hands, having thrown away the bag.

He forced a fake grin, "Well, it's getting late," he pointed towards the skylight, indicating how dark it had grown. When they didn't move his smile fell, and spoke soft, dangerous tone, "go home."

Sasuke leaned back and laid down, stretching out comfortably on one of the many blankets, "No."

Shikamaru and Chouji shared a glance, they had no idea the youngest Uchiha was so bluntly stupid, did he have a death wish? How many knocks on the head would it take for him to see pushing Uzamaki's buttons wasn't the smartest of ideas? Meanwhile, Sasuke watched amused as Naruto's face turned several different colors of red, and tried to sputter out a sentence. Sasuke smirked and made himself even more comfortable on the floor. "We're staying over."

"WHAT!" The words finally found their way from Naruto's mouth and the three boys winced at the volume. Who knew this kid could be so loud? If Sasuke remembered right, Naruto was almost awarded the "Quietest student award" but the fact that most of his peers overlooked him caused a decrease in his votes.

"We're sleeping over, your dad said it was ok." Sasuke expected another outburst but was surprised when Naruto's mouth froze in mid yell and his eyes widened.

"M-my dad?" Naruto stuttered his entire body tensed up as he stared at Sasuke in shock, as if trying to grasp the whole situation. They watched as Naruto subconsciously place a hand over the markings of his stomach and grip it protectively. Unsure of what to do, Sasuke slowly stood up and reached forward to touch Naruto lightly on the shoulder. Naruto's neck snapped forward and grabbed Sasuke's wrist tightly, his blue eyes pleaded at Sasuke, begging him for something. Moving slowly, Sasuke placed his other hand on Naruto's shoulder and shook him lightly. "Naruto, what?"

Like lighting, Naruto ducked under the boy's arms, with his hand still tightly holding Sasuke's wrists, he twisted the arm around so that Sasuke's fingers touched the back of his neck. He pushed Sasuke to the ground, pressing his knee painfully against the spinal cord. Sasuke withheld his screams as he felt his arm being stretched beyond its limit, faintly he could hear Chouji and Shikamaru yelling in the background but it was drowned out by Naruto's rapid breathing.

Sasuke inhaled deeply as Naruto rested his head on the nape of Sasuke's neck and whispered softly near his ear, "You talked to my dad? When?" His voice was low, coming out in uneven breaths. Chouji and Shikamaru were tugging franticly on Naruto's arms and fingers but he would not let go, and their pulling only jarred Sasuke's arm more.

"Downstairs" Sasuke gasped, the pain was unbelievable, "The gray haired one with the mask on."

"Oh." Naruto loosened his grip on Sasuke's wrist, "He's not my dad."

Naruto released his hold and stepped away as Sasuke collapsed on his knees and cradled his wrist to his chest. Shikamaru and Chouji held Naruto's arms back in case he attacked again, but Naruto didn't make a move towards Sasuke. He stared up at Naruto before exploding in rage, "What the fuck!"

Naruto ripped his arms from the two boys and looked dumbfounded at the Sasuke on the floor, "Sorry, you surprised me." Shikamaru and Chouji wisely moved away as Naruto began walking to the hallway door.

Sasuke's heart was pounding against his chest as shock faded and turned to rage. "Me? I fucking surprised you?" Naruto ignored him, he opened the door and disappeared from their sight. This only furthered Sasuke's rage, his yells became louder and penetrated through the thin walls, "After you nearly ripped my arm off!"

Naruto reappeared holding a zip lock bag filled with ice. The confidence he had shown earlier had diminished into a speck as he held out a hand, staring at Sasuke sadly, "Give me your hand."

"Oh fuck no! Not after what you just did!" Sasuke slapped the offering hand away with his bad hand and winced, the pain was sharp and lingering, he rubbed his wrist gently.

Since hostile air was growing, Chouji took action and held on to Naruto's arm, not a moment later the boy tried to charge and attack Sasuke. Unfortunately the grip made him swing around and collide with Shikamaru. Pushing him away, Naruto's face was red as he raged at Sasuke while desperately trying to free his arm from Chouji's hold, "It was an accident okay! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry really doesn't cut it idiot!" Sasuke yelled mockingly at Naruto, insult at the fact the boy thought he could get away with a simple apology. The entire room was chaotic with noise, Chouji and Shikamaru were yelling at Naruto to calm down and the boy was grunting and bellowing as he tried to escape, but the next words that sprouted out from Naruto's mouth silenced them all.

"You think I don't know that! What the fuck do you think I've been telling you for the last twenty four hours!"

Naruto's breathing came out in rapid, shallow wisps as he swallowed many times in order to calm himself. The three boy's full attention was on Naruto, watching him attempt to breathe in normally. Chouji's fingers slipped from the boy's elbow and released him. Unable to handle the situation, Naruto used his last resort, clenched his eyes and slowly closed himself off to the world. He opened his dilated eyes and let his vision dim slightly so the edges became hazy.

"Here." A hand was thrust under Naruto's nose before he could fully close himself off, causing him to snap out of his daze. Naruto blinked and followed the red wrist, along broad shoulders until he met Sasuke's determined eyes staring at him intensely. When Naruto didn't answer, Sasuke forced him to sit on the ground and handed him the ice pack and ace bandage, "Aren't you going to wrap it?" Naruto sat awkwardly looking from the ice pack to Sasuke's eyes, "Um right." He unwrapped the bandage and placed the ice compact on Sasuke's wrist. Sasuke flinched when the coldness soaked into his skin, but he never took his eyes off Naruto. However, when Naruto pulled too tightly on the bandage Sasuke instinctively tried to pull his hand from the pain.

"Watch it." Sasuke hissed lightly and gritted his teeth.

Naruto roughly pulled the arm closer despite the boys pain and retorted, "Bastard, I could hurt the other arm and then this one won't hurt as much."  
"Why are you doing this if you hate me?" Sasuke asked, not really expecting an answer but one came nonetheless.

"Like I said, sometimes sorry isn't enough" Naruto bowed his head and tied the last knot to the bandage. He immediately scooted away and Sasuke could feel a rush of hot air escaping from his chest. Naruto sat crossed-legged, studying Sasuke intensely with narrowed eyes, waiting for some smart-alecky reply but none came. Instead he felt something light bounce off his head and into his lap, looking down he found a medicine bottle containing red liquid.

Looking up, he saw Shikamaru kneel besides him hovering over his shoulder. "You need to have a full stomach before taking the medicine."

Naruto nodded uncertainly and uncorked the bottle to take a whiff of its sickening odor. He grimaced and took a sizeable gulp of the warm liquid before wiping his lips and twisted the lid back on. He glanced awkwardly at the three boys and sighed, "Listen I'm tired and would really like some sleep."

"Fine by me." Shikamaru yawned and laid down on his back, Naruto sputtered, but then Chouji kneeled down and rested his head on Shikamaru's stomach. Sasuke followed by pushing back and falling onto Chouji's large tummy comfortably. Naruto sat in shock as an incomplete square unfolded in front of him. He let out a tiny yelp when a pale hand reached up and yanked him down by the hair. He struggled as he landed heavily on Sasuke's abdomen and Shikamaru's head crawled on to his own belly. Naruto twisted away, but between the hand and the heavy weight trapping him, the most he could do was curse.

Sasuke gave a tiny yank on his hair, "Go to sleep." The words seem to rumble throughout Sasuke's body and vibrated into Naruto's ear. He blushed heavily and tried to rise again but was pulled back effortlessly.

"W-wait a minute, you don't really expect!"

"Sleep dobe." The same rumbling feeling jolted into Naruto's mind as a few emotions wormed around his stomach, safely he chose to express anger.

"Don't call me dobe!"

"Quiet." Sasuke loosened his grip on Naruto's hair but did not release him completely, instead he lightly scraped his nails against the blond's scalp. Naruto tensed up and Shikamaru complained half-heartily about hard pillows. Until Chouji pointed out that you could see the stars from the skylight they were beneath, after that Shikamaru quieted down.

They laid silent, looking up at the starlight and listening for Naruto's breaths return to normal. The blond's shoulders dropped and he finally relaxed on Sasuke. Oddly, it was very comfortable, lying there connected together in a square, the warmth was something Naruto had never felt before, even with his mountain of blankets. They stayed like that for an hour, not speaking, only gazing upward at the stars and listening to their pillows take deep breaths, rising and falling in a soft lullaby of sleep. Naruto's eyes were beginning to droop when he felt the rumble again but only faintly, so only he could hear.

"I'm sorry for calling you names."

Naruto twisted to see Sasuke's face but it was too dark to make out the features, he shrugged lightly and whispered so as not to awake the other boys, "Forget it, it was sticks and stones."  
"What the hell does that mean?" He could feel Sasuke's stomach become rigid under his head, and could almost feel the daggers shooting out of the boy's eyes, he tried to explain as quietly and quickly as possible.

"You know, things kids say when they're little, 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me'. It was all sticks and stones, it never hurt me."

Sasuke's taunt stomach relaxed and Naruto settled comfortably into it, his eyes slid shut and his brain went pleasantly numb, indicating it was time for some shut-eye. But just as his mind surrendered to sleep, a deep chuckle jolted his head, snapping him awake, the hand moved through his hair and tickled his scalp. Naruto stiffened again when the vibration of the word seeped from the nape of his neck into his mind, making his heart stop.

"Liar."

_º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤øº¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤øº¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸_

My friends and I have laid down in that position, its so nice and comfy! Plus it feels perfect I dunno how to explain cuz we re alive and friends…im being weird…try it out with your friends on a field or somewhere (if your close enough that is) then you'll understand.

Ok you know how this whole writing stuff is suppose to help me deal with the shit in my past…kinda like say it- forget it- move on. Well not to say it hasn't been helping but I might have hit a tiny speed bump. You see before this I would drink when I was upset act like an idiot, throw up the next morning, and move on. Well this week has been rather bad to me and instead of talking to people like any normal human would do I got drunk off my ass. Kinda like one step forward two steps back aye? But hey wait before you start the lecture of under aged drinking! Know this, if it wasn't for one to many shots, I would have never haven written that note in angels about my life NEVER! And hey whos to say maybe I would be much worse off if it wasn't for that.

So I admitted it I scare myself cuz sometimes I can't handle situations, so think of this as baby steps. I have some problems im slowly dealing with them and to the girl who talk to me and listened thank you very much (you know who you are)

So to properly 'vent' let me explain a few things that I hate without sharing the whole problem. I hate when people say there's no god because bad things happen to them…but I get more pissed off when people suddenly go hooray cuz something good happened and they suddenly believe in a god again. Secondly I hate when people tell me 'life isn't fair' what the hell! I know its not fair fuck im a prime example of how the world can fuck you over! But what can you do? Whine cry hope everything fixs itself in the end (or in my case get drunk off my ass). No you do something about it. Ok that's all I can say without diving too deep into the problem.

Thanks for reading, if you can id love reviews

Peace

sam


	8. The anthropophagi cook book

**Ok when I saw episode 134 there were two ideas in my head…to cause less confusion I will separate the two parts of my brain which control my inner thoughts**

**Part 1-is the perverted yaoi side that sees sex in any object at any point of the day (this side surprising controls more of my ideas then the other side)**

**Part 2-humor sometimes this side may be a little slow, so if I see something funny I may store it and then use it again for when im bored (NOTE-ever seen the kid who randomly laughs out loud for no apparent reason?)**

**Well when I saw episode there were two possible scenarios running though my head controlled by different parts of the brain, since ur about to read one part ill give you the second scenario..ah hem….**

**KISS DAMINT LEAN OVER FARTHER AND KISS YOU'VE DONE IT ONCE DO IT AGAIN COME ON DO A SPIDERMAN KISS COME ON SASUKE TAKE NARUTO TO UR SECRET CAVE AND MAKE HOT MAN SEX COME ON!…WHAT THE FUCK! WHY DID IT FADE TO THE WATERFALL! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH wtf!**

**cough**

**soo guess which side that came from.**

**Thank you for the reviews and encouragement (sorry this has taken so long I HAVE SCHOOL OK!) please check out my beta Shenevive** **new story 'Personae'**

**One last thing and I promise u can read the story- a friend of mine got seriously hurt (bad enough she hurt her hands but people she's a writer!) and is probably feeling pretty crappy if you guy could drop her a line and check out her stories I think she'd really like that. Her penname is RandomlyYours.**

**Sticks and Stone**

**Chapter 8-The anthropophagi choice in baking a fruitcake**

* * *

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤øº¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤øº¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø

_Take a bull by the horns  
Take some action in this world  
Jumping into the ring  
and take control of everything_

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø

He could vaguely feel a heavy presence against his stomach, that rose and fell with each breath he took and a warm stream of sunlight filtering through the over head windows. Very slowly, Sasuke began to open his eyes and squinted when he felt the bright sunlight pierce his eyes. Allowing them to adjust to the light, he looked downward to see a bundle of blond hair resting on his stomach.

'Ah its just Naruto' Sasuke thought the sleepy haze, laying back down fully prepared to fall back into the warm cocoon of sleep.

Suddenly Sasuke's eyes snapped open and he sat up quick as a bullet causing Naruto's head to fall from his stomach onto his lap. He stiffened when Naruto whimpered but let out a long breath as the sleeping boy grumbled a little and settled back comfortably, snuggling into Sasuke's lap. Catching him off guard, Sasuke moved Naruto's head from his lap, carefully placing it onto the floor.

The boy shifted, causing his shirt to ride up a little, momentarily flashing the strange tattoo on his stomach. Feeling curious, Sasuke leaned over and tugged Naruto's shirt a little higher to study the marks again but stopped when Naruto made a soft noise and smiled in his sleep.

Sasuke stared blankly at Naruto's face before he kneeled behind his head and placed both hands on the floor besides it. He felt himself leaning down so his eyes were even with Naruto's closed ones. Sasuke realized it was getting harder and harder to look into those blue eyes that would stare back in confidence and worst of all, accusingly. Only now with Naruto's eyelids shielding him from the piercing gaze could he look at the boy's face carefully. Studying the six markings that crossed his cheeks, he leaned further down so their faces were almost touching and his bangs brushed against Naruto's nose causing the boy to twitch slightly in his sleep.

Blue eyes opened slowly and blinked as Sasuke's face became more focused.

He blinked once.

Twice.

And opened his mouth to speak.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Naruto screamed as he shot up, his forehead crashing against Sasuke's, making a loud noise on impact.

Both boys howled and grabbed their head in pain, Sasuke fell backwards onto the blankets while Naruto rolled around with a long wailing cry.

They both looked up and locked hated glares, yelling at the same time.

"Fucking idiot!"

"Bastard! What the hell are you doing here!"

Sasuke snarled at the boy, "We slept over dobe!"

Naruto groaned and sat up clutching his head "Damn it! Where are the other freaks?"

"Here." A holler came from the kitchen area as Shikamaru and Chouji poked their heads in, silly grins across their faces. "We were going to wake you, but you two looked so comfortable."

Sasuke, used to his friend's teasing, just bopped them on the head. Naruto, on the other hand, sported a heavy blush across his cheeks. "W-what are you talking about!"

They watched in surprise as the boy tucked into himself and tried to shield themselves from their eyes, was he really that uncomfortable with friendly teasing?

"Naruto" Sasuke walked over and pulled the shy boy up by his wrists with ease "They're just joking."

"R-ight. Right! I knew that!" he stood up, pulling his hands away, rubbing them across the back of his head.

They watched as he relaxed, pulling himself together and crossing his arms over his chest, confidence back.

"So you're going to leave now right? Don't want to over stay your welcome and all that." He began, ushering them out of his room and towards the front door.

Chouji tried to turn around and cried out, "What about breakfast?"

Naruto pressed all his weight against Chouji's back slowly forcing them away. "Sorry no food. Go somewhere else and eat" he managed to get them to the door and was just about to open it and shove them out of his life when Sasuke's voice stopped him.

"Want to come with us?"

"What?" he stared dumbfounded as the boys faced him.

Shikamaru shrugged and nodded towards the other boys, "Troublesome, we'll go to a dinner or something."

Naruto swallowed hard as they awaited his answer, he shifted from one foot to another and shook his head, "Um no, I can't I have to do stuff today."

"Like?"

"People shop on Saturdays more then any other day" When they made no sign of following what he was saying Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair irritability, "It's the best day to hand out pamphlets."

Shikamaru leaned against the door, "Are you doing this for that Iruka and Kakashi fellow?" Naruto opened and closed his mouth like a fish, not sure what to say, but Shikamaru only raised his eyebrow at Naruto, "Just a wild guess."

Naruto walked through the little gap between the boys and motioned them to follow while closing the door behind him, "Yeah it's for them. But it's what I want to do." They began walking down the hallway towards the stairs.

"So Iruka is your dad right?" Sasuke ventured, he was a little fearful of using the 'Dad' word, but remembered Tsunade mentioning Iruka was Naruto legal guardian, that's the same as saying he was adopted by Iruka, right?

But this time Naruto didn't react to the word, instead he twisted his head to face Sasuke, answering tiredly "No, neither of them are my parents. Yet." The last part was followed by a bright smile as they descended down the stairwell.

"Why not? Didn't they adopt you?"

Naruto shook his head negatively, "No, in my parent's will, Iruka was to be by law my legal guardian but he can only adopt me if he has a spouse to support him."

They waited but Naruto seemed satiated with his answer, they were at the bottom of the stairs now and Chouji finally asked, "So?"

Naruto groaned and rolled his eyes at their clueless expressions, "So! Iruka's gay! And the law fucking states the marriage must be legal under state law. In other words I can't have a family because some closed minded pricks won't change the laws."

Naruto pushed against the door that was stuck, shoving with all his might, it gave in inch by inch but that made him even more resolute to open the stubborn door. As he spoke his eyes flashed with determination, "I don't care who thinks I'm wrong or tries to stop me, I'm going to pay back my debt to Iruka and get my family."

"What debt?" Shikamaru asked but it was too late, Naruto had gotten the resilient door open and was walking into the bar area. They quickly clambered out behind him and got a better chance to look around the room. It wasn't quiet as scary as when they first walked in, maybe that was because of the singing drunks, but who can really tell?

There was a ring in the middle of the floor with tables and chairs surrounding it. The floors were clean and the beer mugs were washed. Off to the side was a pool table already stacked up ready to play. In all, the place was tidy and livable except for the few humans passed out on the tables and floors.

The three boys quickly identified Gai, with his green suit and loud snores. A few tables away Genma and Asuma were playing cards, each held a look of concentration while poking their favorite 'sticks' around in their mouths. They looked up and gave the boys a salute before returning to the game.

As Chouji stepped out from behind the counter he accidentally bumped into Anko as she crossed the room with half opened eyes. He was about to give a quick apology when she snarled, "Damn brat, push me again and I'll sneak snakes in your bed while you sleep."

Naruto leaped forward and dragged Chouji several feet away from the mad women's wrath,

"Anko, Tsunade has some coffee brewing in the downstairs kitchen."

The women grunted in acknowledgement, her face became slack, she forgot her anger from earlier and began the task of dragging her feet towards the smell of coffee.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief when she left and whispered to Chouji, "You don't want to mess with her until she's had her daily dose of that black crap."

Chouji's face was pale as he nodded and stored that vital information in his brain right next to surviving snake bites.

They managed to make it halfway to the door when a tall figure suddenly blocked their path holding a box. Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru instinctively looked for a place to hide in case Ibiki had not had his dose of coffee but Naruto grew excited as he eagerly tugged at the box in his hands.

"Hey is it here?"

Ibiki passed the box to the hyper boy, watching him tear it open, "Ya kid there's a million of them, this is the last one to be unpacked." He nodded towards the back of the room where all assorted boxes and were opened and empty. Ibiki frowned at Naruto and narrowed his eyes, "How the hell did you pay for all this?"

Naruto pulled a few sheets of paper from the box and quickly skimmed through them while talking off-handidly to Ibiki, "Just used some spare cash from my pocket, the agency gives me a lot ya know?" He laughed in delight and nearly shoved the paper in Ibiki's face, "Look at this! This is perfect!"

Ibiki let out a gruff laugh and passed it behind to Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Chouji giving them what he had thought to be a kind smile but in reality looked like a bone-chilling smirk.

Chouji and Shikamaru leaned on Sasuke's shoulders as the raven haired boy read the title out loud, "Recipes and idea on how to boil, cook, or bake gay Americans."

Sasuke's neck snapped up painfully as he stared in disbelief and stuttered. "W-what the hell is this?" he scanned through the pamphlet that was several pages long. "I thought you were for gay marriage!"

"I am. Ibiki came up with this idea."

Ibiki shook his head and ruffled Naruto's blond locks, smiling when the boy squawked in protest, "Kid take some credit where credits due, you're the one who came up with the ideas I just told you how it works." Naruto tried to contain his smile and force it down but it nonetheless broke through, making him glow in pride, retaliating by sticking his tongue out at stoic-man. Ibiki turned back to the dumbfounded boys to explain, "It's called reverse psychology; Naruto will post these papers around town with out anyone knowing. When people read the articles implying that the only way to cure you son or daughter from the 'disease' of gayness is to deep fry them and serve them for dinner. They will either be disgusted at the anti-gay marriages for coming up with such a grotesque way or they will realize it's a spoof and find it amusing. Either way it works out in our favor."

Shikamaru took the paper from Sasuke and scanned the first few papers, his eyes widened at some points and lips curled into a tiny smirk at others. He released a full blown laugh and pointed out a certain section for the other boys to read, "I love this one 'the anthropophagi choice in baking a fruitcake."

Naruto forgot for a minute who they were and grinned boldly, "Ya I had some help with that one. Genma is like a human theorist. I think I ordered that one in poster form too." He sidestepped Shikamaru and shuffled around near the towering boxes trying to find a cardboard cylinder. He tried to ease one from the bottom but the mountain of cardboard shifted and wobbled unstably. At that moment Iruka and Kakashi entered the room, staring at the tower of cardboard coming down on their son.

"Timber!" they yelled simultaneously as the structure finally fell bouncing harmlessly off his head. Naruto yelped anyway and slipped, crashing down to the floor while landing heavily on a box. He quickly scuttled up and franticly picked apart the crushed cardboard. He stopped and turned flabbergasted to Ibiki "Where's the rest?"

"We already unpacked it."

But Naruto's attention had already drifted to the cardboard cylinder in his hands. He looked from the cardboard to the adults gathered in the room, back to the cardboard, then to the adults. A sly grin formed on his lips and he chucked darkly while tightening his grip on the cylinder. He raced forward and bopped Jiraiya on the head with the cardboard. He quickly ran way and ducked behind Iruka and Kakashi who had just walked in, both looked down in confusion as Naruto peeked from behind their legs and stuck his tongue at Jiraiya, "You're it!"

"Brat!" The man screamed as he picked an empty cylinder and made way for Naruto. But the boy scrambled away at the last moment causing Kakashi to take the blow.

"Oops?" Jiraiya grinned. Kakashi narrowed his eye and snatched the cardboard from the older mans hands and returned the favor by smacking him on the shoulder. Iruka started laughing at the stunned man's face but grumbled when Kakashi dealt a light blow to his nose. Iruka made a move to the cylinder but Kakashi danced away, his eye closed merrily.

Anko had somehow gotten a hold of another cylinder and was waving it around near Asuma and Genma's table, taunting them. They both grinned and exchanged a look, they stood up and made way to the corner of the room and grabbed a hold of their own choice of 'weapons'.

In less then four minutes Naruto had managed to create total chaos as Iruka and Kakashi playful tried to fight for the cardboard and Jiraiya was still chasing and cursing after Naruto who was making faces at the old man calling him slow. Asuma and Genma were still arguing with Anko, who was pulling Ibiki over and into the fight, against his will, mind you.

"Wait we need some music for this!" Tsunade slipped a CD from its cover and hid its title. Everyone tensed and then relaxed as the intro began; it started out a drumbeat then followed by the roar of a guitar.

_I had visions, I was in them  
I was looking into the mirror  
to see a little bit clearer  
rottenness and evil in me_

_Fingertips have memories  
mine can't forget the curves of your body  
and when I feel a bit naughty  
I run it up the flagpole and see who salutes  
(but no one ever does) _

Everyone grabbed a weapon and pulled away a few tables to make room for the fight. Shikamaru and Chouji hesitated in picking up the cardboard but Sasuke sauntered his way past Naruto and plucked up a sturdy cylinder, they quickly found their own suitable weapons.

At the last moment Genma untied his bandana and retied it on Naruto's head, "You look bad ass kid." He smirked at the boy and then turned his attention to the rest of the adults and spoke out in a very stern voice. "Ok this is stupid, childish and dangerous... We start when the chorus begins right?"

They laughed and Naruto grinned and tied his bandana tighter, "Right!"

_I'm not sick but I'm not well  
and I'm so hot cause I'm in hell  
I'm not sick but I'm not well  
and it's a sin to live so well_

"BATTLE!" Naruto let out a fierce battle cry as he ran straight on into the herd of adults. Sasuke had to suppress a grin and focus on dodging the oncoming swings. Cardboard clashed against cardboard and more battle cries, most likely Naruto's, were heard through the sound proof door onto the streets.

_Been around the world and found  
that only stupid people are breeding  
the cretins cloning and feeding  
and I don't even own a TV_

The first disqualification was called not fifteen seconds after the game had started. Tsunade voice rang out causing everyone to momentarily pause, "Genma, using acupuncture is cheating! You're disqualified!" They turned to see the needle chewing man unsuccessfully trying to hold his sleeping friend up.

"Oh! Come on, he's fine!" Genma shook Asuma's body and grinned cheekily as the man's head flopped around. "See, just taking a little nap."

Tsunade shook her head and Genma grumbled as he dragged Asuma's limp body away from the battlefield.

When they were out of the way Tsunade turned back to the players and grinned, "Continue!"

Two down.

_Put me in the hospital for nerves  
and then they had to commit me  
you told them all I was crazy  
they cut off my legs now I'm an amputee, god damn you _

Shikamaru and Chouji gave each other knowing nods and decided to stick together, better to have a comrade then nothing. They stood back to back watching the others attack each other with tremendous force, it was surprising that the flimsy cardboard didn't break apart in their hands. They watched Anko pick up tiny pieces and fling them wildly around the room like Chinese Stars while others used the long cylinders as swords. They were so absorbed in the battle, they never sensed the enemy sneaking up on them till it was too late.

"You boys want to see something scary?" Ibiki's gruff voice emerged from the side. They both spun around to see the gigantic man towering over them. Ibiki smirked and tore off his bandana and revealed hideous scars and burn marks hidden in his scalp. His eyes bulged wildly and he cackled gleefully, "Take a look at this!"

Shikamaru and Chouji's faces paled at the sight and they wobbly dropped their weapons, unable to look away from the holes drilled in the man's head. Ibiki smirked and replaced his bandana but not before bopping the two boys playfully over their heads with his cylinder, "Out."

Tsunade's voice rose from the sidelines, "Ibiki you're disqualified as well, no using your occupation as an advantage!" If the man was upset he didn't show it, instead he ushered the sickly looking boys away from the battlefield and onto the sidelines so they could watch in peace.

Five down

_I'm not sick but I'm not well  
and I'm so hot cause I'm in hell _

_I'm not sick but I'm not well  
and it's a sin to live so well _

Iruka managed to smack his boyfriend playfully on the arm. He grinned happily and said, "I got you!"

"No you don't"

Iruka's grin faltered and he tilted his head in confusion, "Yes I did?"

"Nope, I got you." He replied, his eye formed a u-shape as he tapped Iruka's butt with his cardboard weapon.

Iruka narrowed his eyes and glared, "That's not fair, you're already out."

"Was not."

"Was too!"

Kakashi threw up his arms in a fake exasperation, "Fine, no more sex this week."

"FINE!" Iruka screamed as he stormed angrily away while tossing his own weapon at Kakashi.

The cardboard bounced harmlessly off Kakashi's head and he stared in shock at his retreating lover. Reality suddenly came back in focus as he blinked and stumbled slightly towards where Iruka had stormed off, "Wait baby I was just kiddin', baby?"

Seven down.

_I wanna publish zines  
and rage against machines  
I wanna pierce my tongue  
it doesn't hurt, it feels fine  
the trivial sublime_

_I'd like to turn off time  
and kill my mind  
you kill my mind_

The music was getting softer and softer with each note and Sasuke struggled against Jiraiya, blocking his attacks. For some strange reason he felt the man had a grudge over him.

Just when Jiraiya was about to land the winning blow, Sasuke felt a woosh of air over his head and pressure on his shoulder but soon the weight diminished and his vision was blocked by the bold orange colors of a jacket. Naruto waved his 'sword' with mockery in the older man's face and smirked as Jiraiya came charging after him, battle on!

Sasuke took a moments break since Naruto now had the crazy old man's full attention, he turned around in confusion trying to figure out how Naruto had gotten in front of him without walking around him. His eyes traveled to the snickering group of adults who were 'out' and raised a questioning eyebrow.

Anko was the one to answer his unspoken question, "The kid just leaped frogged over your shoulder." She then broke into hiccuping laughter at the sight of Sasuke's stunned face, Anko had to lean over and clutch her knees in an attempted to calm her laughter.

The music suddenly picked up and Naruto let out a warrior yell as he jumped onto one of the barstools in order to get into high grounds. Unfortunately he didn't see Jiraiya's smirk as the man abandoned his weapon and reached forward and poke him on the side of his rib cage. Sasuke watched in horror fearing the man had pressed too hard on Naruto's cut but was shocked when Naruto let out a bark of laughter followed by snorts as he tried to escape the man's fingers. He jumped from the stool and pointed an accusing finger at the man, "Cheater! You're cheating!"

_Paranoia Paranoia  
everybody's coming to get me  
just say you never met me  
I'm going underground with the moles  
hear the voices in my head  
I swear to god it sounds like they're snoring  
but if you're bored then you're boring  
the agony and the irony, they're killing me_

Sasuke watched in shock as Naruto leaped over all objects, including chairs, pool table's and people to get away from Jiraiya. He blinked and backed up a step to fall into one of the unoccupied seats next to Iruka.

"He's ticklish?" he asked in disbelief

Beside him, Iruka let out a deep belly laugh and rubbed the top of his noes out of habit, "Are you kidding?" The teacher smiled warmly as he watched the blond boy race around the room, he began humming along with the song. Sasuke began to see why Naruto was so attached to the man,

Suddenly Iruka frowned and glance sideways at Sasuke, "Naruto," he said and then stopped trying to pull the right words from his mouth, "he's not getting into any fights right?"

Sasuke maintained a calm exterior, reminding himself that the man was not accusing him, just asking, "No he doesn't fight in school" close enough to the truth.

Iruka gave a half nod but never took his eyes away from Naruto as he spoke "We all worry about him, he spends all his time here at The Jungle, plus he never really talks about his friends at school."

"We don't know that much about him." Sasuke admitted slowly and carefully thought out what he was about to say, "Until a few days ago I've never even really had a real conversation with him."

If Iruka was surprised he didn't show it, he just smiled, "Don't feel bad, I met Naruto three years ago I and he's still a bit of a mystery to me."

"Three years ago?" He turned to the older man in surprise, "Then he wasn't always in your custody?"

"Nope we found him when he was ten," he then gave a tiny laugh as if remembering a fond memory, "or should I say he found us."

A voice from beside him almost made Sasuke jump out of his chair in surprise, when had Kakashi joined them? The gray hair man was sitting down on other side of Sasuke and intruded on their conversation, much to Iruka's annoyance. "From what the workers told us, he sneaked into the adoption's file room and managed to uncover who his parents left him to in case anything were to happen."

Iruka seem to forgive the intrusion as he suddenly smiled again and sat up straighter so he could talk to Kakashi over Sasuke's head, "Remember how he use to followed us everywhere, claiming he wanted to be our son?"

Kakashi close his eye happily and nodded before turning back to the ongoing fight, "I don't think the fact we were together even fazed him."

Iruka also looked at the blond boy and chuckle under his breath, "That's Naruto for you but just the same," he turned back to Sasuke with a bright smile, inwardly making Sasuke cringe on how alike it was to Naruto's. Iruka placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and gave him a light pat while beaming down at him, "I'm glad he finally has friends to take care of him."

The pain in Sasuke's stomach became worse as he nodded his head and looked straight ahead at Naruto, watching the boy laugh carefree with a huge grin on his face.

_I'm not sick but I'm not well  
and I'm so hot cause I'm in hell  
I'm not sick but I'm not well  
and it's a sin to live so well _

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"Hey brat wait a minute!"

"Crap," Naruto groaned and turned around to face the woman, "what do you want now Granny?" After the song, Naruto had said his good-byes and gathered the posters and pamphlets in one hand and shoved the boys out the door with another. He scowled at Tsunade with one hand placed irritably on his hip, all he wanted to do was get the stupid boys away from his home and tack up the posters before the morning rush came. Was that too much to ask for?

Apparently so, Tsunade made her way slowly to Naruto, taking her time, much to Naruto's annoyance.

"Here." she slipped an orange scarf around his neck and knotted it tightly making the blond boy choke and grab his throat. She ignored his antics and pulled him closer by the scarf and swept his bangs away from his head, Naruto tried to pull away but was stilled when she leaned down and gave him a tiny kiss on the forehead, "It's getting colder out and you already got sick once." Naruto blushed as he pulled away; he touched his forehead lightly with a tiny smile on his face.

Tsunade also grinned as she shooed him away ,"Now beat it kid." she smiled as he turned around and started walking away opposite direction of Sasuke, Chouji and Shikamaru. Leaning out the doorway she shouted, "Go change the world."

Naruto's tiny smile broke into a larger grin, "Believe it!" he yelled as loud as his lungs allowed, making his voice carry down the street and reach the other boys ears.

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Monday: defined as the most horrible dreadful day of the week. Where normal bright-eyed students ambled in, dragging their feet like zombies, would shuffle into class and fall asleep as soon as they plopped into their seats. Which is exactly what Shikamaru Nara did so each morning, everyone knew the routine, and the teachers paid no mind since the boy happed to be a genius.

But today something different happened, yes Shikamaru still walked in like a zombie yawning and blinking his eyes, yes he sat down in an available seat and slumped down to sleep.

The only real difference was where he sat down, or to be more precise WHO he sat down next to.

No one seemed to notice or care about this arrangement except for the blond boy with a bright orange jacket sitting next to a soft snoring Shikamaru. Naruto's face was that of utmost horror as he stared at his classmate. He sat as far down the connected tables would allow, almost falling off the edge, while staring suspiciously at the boy during the whole period. As soon as the bell rang Naruto picked up his books and raced to his next class before Shikamaru had even raised his head.

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Naruto's chair was behind Chouji's at a diagonal, something he had never really bothered to notice before, but now he glanced over at the boy. Naruto's eyes were emotionless as he mechanically solved the problems written on the board, his pencil stalled and began to erase what he had just written.

Ignoring the strange looks on his classmates faces', Chouji scooted his desk closer to Naruto's and tapped him on the shoulder. Naruto looked up and stared at him, he showed no indication of friendliness nor hatred.

"How bout I do odds and you do evens?"

Naruto's eyes widened before going back to their half-seduced state, Chouji watched and smiled when the boy gave a tiny nod and began to work on problem number two.

Settling back into his chair content and happy that he had been able to change Naruto's eyes, even for a second, he turned back to his own work and tackled problem one.

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Naruto like to enter the side door to the lunchroom, it was just easier that way. Why try to kill yourself by entering the main doorway when there was a perfectly crowd-free door off to the side?

He clutched his lunch close to his chest and lazily let his eyes glaze over the student body, trying to pick the best route to his table. He himself considered maneuvering around the lunchroom while avoiding flying food and snickering girls to be a true art and skill that is never fully appreciated. His gaze rested on his table, yes his, for no one usually sat there unless there was no more room left, and even then they left enough space to prove to the entire lunchroom that they were not sitting next to Naruto. He noticed there were three people at his regular spot but really didn't care, they'd either move or he's sit farther down. He squinted a bit and it began to dawn on him who the three kids were. One was dressed solely in black, another tall and slim with hair messily tied up in a pony tale, and a heavy set kid.

They had left a space open for him.

Students pushed their way past him as Naruto continued to stare at the three boys sitting at a table. His table! Chouji and Shikamaru were laughing at something Sasuke had said, he watched them as they talked, laughed and waited. Something unpleasant started to churn within his stomach; Naruto clutched the brown bag closer and swallowed thickly.

They were waiting for him?

They wanted to sit by him?

Naruto tried to recall the last time anyone had actually sat by him in lunch for conversational reasons, the odds were against him. As he stared, he wondered if he could maybe just walk up to them, sit in the seat between Sasuke and Shikamaru and strike up a normal conversation, just like he had seen all groups of friends do. Maybe they would smile and greet him, or share their lunch like the last time.

The longer he stared the more the uneasiness grew, he watched them talk and glance at the clock or stare at the main entrance door, like they were waiting for him. But still he could not move his feet forward.

The one thought processing in Naruto's head was 'this is stupid.' They weren't hitting him or shoving him around, no physical damage was being done but just the same, it was hurting him. More so than a punch or a harsh word. So at the time Naruto could only think 'this is stupid.'

When asked, a few people would openly admit to hearing a silent orange dressed boy speak at that moment, for few cared or realized the significance. But for those who did remember would freeze as he spoke loudly to himself and they would recall the fierce look in his wild eyes and the sneer on his lip.

"Forget them." They would watch as Naruto turned and stalked away, showing more emotion in those ten seconds then he had in that the last three years. His voice would echo down the hallways. "It's what I should have done in the first place."

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Unfortunately for our hero, the day wasn't over. He had nimbly dodged them in the hallways and luckily had no classes with them. But somehow it was like they knew his schedule or something, every time he'd step out into the halls one or two of them would be skimming the crowded hallways looking for him. The down side in all this running had caused him to receive a blister forming on both heels of his feet, one had even broken and he could feel the blood mixing with the irruption of his skin. But he just grinned and bared it.

Naruto had managed to slip by them in 5th, 6th, and 7th. All he needed to do was make it to the last class and then run home. For precautions sake, he had delayed his visit in the halls by asking a teacher about a homework assignment. Asking for exact instructions and how exactly this way worked and not another. He could tell she was a little suspicious when he asked who had first invented the division sign and decided it was a good as time as ever to leave. All in all it was a perfect plan, completely foolproof in anyway. Unfortunately there are some ever-talented fools out there.

Naruto had just stepped out of the classroom when a voice rang right next to his ear, "Where were you at lunch?"

Naruto cursed at the gods as he turned to see Sasuke Uchiha leaning casually against a locker with his arms crossed, looking at him impatiently.

Before he could stop himself he heard the words form from his mouth, "What the hell do you want?"

If anything, that seemed to amuse the gothic boy even more, he smirked and cocked an eyebrow then pushed off from the wall so he could face the red faced Naruto, "I'm waiting for you." he stated honestly.

Naruto face suddenly grew even redder as he stared into the smug face, not being able to take it he spun around and headed for his last class, hoping and praying to god that the stupid boy would just leave him alone. A few seconds later he cursed at the same god when he heard the pitter patters of someone trailing him. Sasuke came closer and noticed the slight limp in Naruto's walk, his eyes followed downward from the boy's neck past his hips and calves and rested on a lagging foot. On closer expectation, Sasuke could see a speck of red on jeans. He frowned, did Chouji and Shikamaru hurt him? No, they had agreed not to. Maybe someone else had? It was no secret that Naruto was the most hated boy in his grade but Sasuke had never really given it enough thought, did Naruto have other bullies? One outside Chouji, Shikmaru and himself? That though suddenly made him feel a bit angry for some reason. He sped up in order to catch up to the blond boy who was attempting to distance himself despite his slight disadvantage.

"What happen to your leg?" He found himself asking with a bit of bite in his voice, not that Naruto really noticed, much.

"My socks are too thin, the heel part has holes in them." Naruto gritted out, he was ready to rip his own hair out as Sasuke began walking beside him, marching his step stride for stride. He bit on his lip and tried to walk faster but his legs were no match for the other boy's long ones.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit lighter at the fact that Naruto wasn't hurt by someone. He noticed the boy's irritation and grinned the tiniest bit. He faked a sigh as if it was Naruto who was following him and not the other way around, "You should go to the nurse and put a Band-Aid on it, dobe."

Naruto turned to snap back but stopped when he noticed Sasuke's grin, he swallowed deeply and took a large yoga breath, "No it's fine." Naruto answered back in his best monotone voice, hoping Sasuke would get the point and leave him alone.

Sasuke's grin fell at the sound of Naruto's dull voice and he glanced over to see Naruto's face go completely slack with a void look in his eyes. He paused for a second and Naruto continued to walk on, but only succeed in a few steps before he was roughly pulled back by his jacket, making Naruto collide with his chest. He leaned down and whispered as threatening as possible into Naruto's ear, "Go put a Band-Aid on it or I will."

What little left of Naruto's control abruptly snapped. The anger and frustration that had been slowly building up from the moment he had seen the three boys sitting at his table let loose. He pushed himself away from Sasuke and glared at him hatefully. Sasuke forced him self-not to react to Naruto's spiteful eyes and concentrated solely on the boy's scrunched up face, "Damn it! What's your obsession on healing every little cut I get?" he demanded angrily.

Sasuke struggled to find the right words, not even sure why he felt so intent on following Naruto in the first place. He thought of how Naruto could make him self-emotionless, how he could fight back but decided not to, and how he could make Sasuke smile and laugh, something few had accomplished in his lifetime. He recalled Iruka's words from earlier, and knew exactly what he wanted from Naruto, "Because that's what friends do! They watch out for each other!"

"Friends?" He stared at him in disbelief and then surprised Sasuke by letting out a deep belly wrenching laugh. Naruto looked up and grew serious staring Sasuke directly in the eyes, just daring the boy to correct him, "Who the fuck said we were friends?"

"I don't know the type of friendship you and those other two share," Naruto moved closer and Sasuke was forced to take a step backwards.

"But if I were to have friends, they'd never push my head in a toilet." Naruto took another step closer and Sasuke found himself stuck between Naruto and the doorway to the girl's locker. He felt his mouth grow dry as Naruto leaned his head forward so that their faces were inches apart. Sasuke felt the heat from Naruto's words pressing over his nose and around his cheeks.

"They would never leave bruises on me." Sasuke felt panicky and looked away from the blond to avoid his accusing eyes. But Naruto's arm moved faster than lightning, slamming his palm against the door next to Sasuke's head, the other hand found it's way to Sasuke's collar so the boy was forced to look directly into his eyes. Sasuke experience a nervous shudder and was mesmerized by the pure intensity and insanity directed towards him through Naruto's eyes.

"And they would never," Naruto pulled Sasuke closer so he could reach behind and open the door from behind his capture. With a tight grip on the boy's shirt, he shoved him into the open door way.

"MAKE ME FEEL LIKE TRASH!"

Naruto slammed the door shut behind Sasuke and placed a discarded broom in-between the metal bars, trapping the raven haired boy inside.

Sasuke sat stunned for a moment and then lunged at the door, desperately trying to get out, he slammed his fists and twisted the knob but to no luck, the door wasn't budging.

Meanwhile Naruto had his ear pressed excitedly against the door and listened to the commotion inside. For not only had he locked the boy into a girl's locker room, he happened to know for a fact that there was a gym class this period and the girls should be undressing right about now.

"Who's there?" A female voice asked from behind the door, Naruto had to control the giggle threatening to be unleashed.

"Sasuke?" Oh this was too good to be true, Naruto pressed a hand against his mouth to contain the laughter.

"Oh my freaken' god, it's Sasuke!"

"NARUTO, GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

Naruto's eyebrow rose in wonder, "Not the results I was expecting, but just as satisfying." He grinned coyly and walked to his last class, all the while laughing as Sasuke's deserted screams echoed in the hallway.

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**:wipes tear from eye: o man I love that heheh.**

**I realized when reading over the last couple of chapters …Naruto not really acting like Naruto so in this one I tried to get his personality back. I think I did ok he still need to be skiderish around Sasuke Chouji & Shikamaru cuz he cant trust them for now (if u disagree then uve never had a bully who suddenly acted nice to u for no reason.**

**On that note I did a nice thing the other day! See theres still this one girl I'm still afraid of cuz frankly I think shes a bit psyco (she pulled out a lighter and threaten o burn my face u do not mess with that girl!)**

**But the other day I got a shock…she threw up..ergo she is human (despite my earlier thoughts) imagine there i am sitting in the handicap stall (i like my space!) I look down to see the person in the stall next to with her feet in the OPPOSITE direction, and there little sounds of someone heaving. Lovely huh?**

**So I stick my head in and hold back her hair and shit cuz I felt bad no one likes to throw up not even psycho pple. Anyway she didn't really know who I was cuz the toilet seem to be her best friend at the moment. So I talked and got her water, then when she finally looked up and saw who it was she got all pissy. Cuz ya know it was me. But hey I'd probably be embarrassed if a person I hated saw me throw up. Whatever I know it was a nice thing to do even if she didn't like me ( I did get a thank you before she saw me not after) **

**So I hope u like the chapter tell me what u think**

**Peace**

**sam**


	9. How we outfoxed Buddha

**So tired…. not of writing, love the writing but I havent been sleeping much and I have this crap piled on me. My poor dad he such a sweetie, he's worried about me going to college. He's a tough dude (military and all that) and he's never really scared of stuff (wish I could be like him some people scare the shit out of me) sides he's realistic – my writing kinda baffles him sometimes but he's a good guy. But last night after touring a college he came into my room and said he had a nightmare about me, I think he was almost crying, so I let him lay down and waited for him to go to sleep. Kind of like he would do for me after a bad day or a nightmare. Love my dad, he's such a softy on the inside.**

**Right anyway thanks again to my beta Shenevive (she said im getting better at grammar! Holy crap the end of the world is coming!) Check out her new story Uzumaki Pastries which I have read Shenevie so there XP**

**Oh before I forget, last week chapter had a song I didn't disclaim: Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger is my favorite beyond favorite song in the world! Second would be Everything is Alright by Motion City**

**Ok that's everything! Chapter dedicated to the fat sweaty soccer girl I saw back when I was 8 years old (read bottom note). Hope you enjoy chapter 9-how we outfoxed Buddha.**

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**Sticks and Stone**

**Chapter 9**- how we outfoxed Buddha

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_He drew a circle that shut me out-  
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.  
But Love and I had a wit to win.  
We drew a circle and took him in._

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There it was, not even fifteen feet away was his escape, his freedom. Naruto licked his lips and tried to keep his face as neutral as possible, unintentionally he began to speed up, taking longer stride towards his glorious goal now only ten feet away. So close so close! Don't run! The bad guys always catch the good guys when they run, just keep a steady pace, almost there! Five feet away!

Freedom in a few more steps, away from this horrible school and its nasty inhabitance. Nothing in this bodily earth could stop him from passing that beautiful school gate.

A heavy hand fell on his shoulder forcing him to halt in his speed walk, "DOBE! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Spoke too soon.

He let out a tiny groan as the hand gripped his jacket tightly and spun him around in a rough matter. Naruto's eyes first met a flash of skin, he slowly looked up and took in the angry boy's appearance. Sasuke's shirt buttons had somehow disappeared and were now replaced with safety pins, probably given to him by the school nurse. His hair was ruffled and sticking out in different directions. He scowled at the smaller boy and a tiny twitch had formed in one eye. Naruto tried desperately to suppress his laughter by sucking in the air but it only resulted in an odd noise that sounded like 'urk' He quickly averted his eyes and held his breath, making his face go red.

Sasuke noticed the boy's action and the tiny twitch in his eye grew a bit larger, "You think this is funny? You locked me in with a bunch of FANGIRLS!" he practically screamed the last word.

"Yes." Naruto answered back readily even if his voice was monotone. Sasuke's hand tightened on the jacket as Naruto took a tiny step back. Sasuke retorted by taking a quick step forward to shorten the distance. If anything, Naruto's still lips lifted into a small smirk as they slowly inched to the school gates. "What are you going to do about it? Hit me?" Naruto's face glowed with pride as Sasuke's face grew dark with anger and pushed him closer and closer to the exit.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru had stayed a few feet away and frowned at their exchange, watching carefully as Naruto inched backwards while Sasuke moved forward. Both looked confident, so he couldn't help but wonder, was Naruto leading Sasuke into a trap, or was Sasuke pushing Naruto into a corner?

Instinctively he reached out and pulled Naruto away from the school's gate and out of Sasuke's grip. Sasuke turned to him and glared before he pulled Naruto back to him with a tight hold. Shikamaru ignored his friend's odd behavior and focused on Naruto's face, which showed a trace of disappointment. Everything suddenly clicked together as Naruto attempted to cover his downfall with a bored expression. "The school boundaries." Naruto's mouth opened a little in surprise as Shikamaru continued "You won't fight within the school boundaries." The blond boy's face crumbled while Sasuke's face suddenly lit up with a nasty grin, he reached down and poked Naruto on the forehead lightly. "What's the matter dobe, afraid of detention? Don't want to get in trouble with the principle?"

Naruto slapped the hand away and tried to make a dash for the exit but Sasuke wrapped his arms around the smaller boy pinning his hand to his side. Sasuke lifted him up, to Naruto's embarrassment, and walked further from the front gate, most of the students had already left and only the athletes stayed after school, "Fuck you!" Naruto snarled and tried to get his hands loose, he twisted and kicked to no luck.

"Oh no you don't. You're coming with us." At these words Naruto began to squirm even more franticly.

"Let me go! Let me go! Fucking bastard, I can't take this anymore!" He managed to kick Shikamaru in the stomach and elbow Sasuke in the chin, but his efforts were useless, Shikamaru just backed off while Sasuke held on to him tightly and continued to walk awkwardly away from the gates. Naruto panicked, not knowing where they were taking him, and the feeling of being trapped in the arms of someone he hated caused him to talk without thinking, "Toss me in the trash! Call me names! Give me swirlies! But don't fucking mess with my head! Don't pretend to be nice when your just going to go back to ...this! Ok? Just don't fuck with my head like this!" He stopped moving and slumped in Sasuke's grip. With a little resistance Sasuke put him on the ground and released him, Naruto hunched his shoulders inward and stared hatefully at the ground. Sasuke reached over and tugged lightly on the boy's sleeve.

"Come with us."

These words snapped the blond boy back into reality, his eyes lighten back up while he stared intensely into Sasuke's eyes. When the dark haired boy looked away, Naruto's lip twisted into a smirked and he gave a mocking bow while never taking his eyes off Sasuke, "Lead the way asshole. Where to, the bathroom? Maybe the dumpster again, I bet you got a good laugh last time." He pushed ahead stomping towards an unknown area Shikamaru and Sasuke tried to catch up, Sasuke reached over to firmly direct Naruto, but suddenly turned back and gripped the pale hands in his own. He squeezed below the finger joint causing them to be awkwardly and painfully be squished together. Sasuke gasp in agony, his knees weakened threatening to collapse on him at any moment. Naruto stared down at Sasuke with indifferent eyes and spoke coldly, "Doesn't matter where you take me, bastard, because I promise no matter what you're never going to beat me. I always get back up and win. Hear that? You'll never beat me." Naruto released Sasuke's fingers and watched the boy snatch them away and cradle them gently. Sasuke looked up and locked eyes with Naruto. They stared at each other, neither breaking the gaze. Finally Naruto sighed deeply, his blue eyes darkening in sadness, "Because I have a real monster inside of me."

Naruto passed Sasuke and walked down the hill that over looked the school's grounds. He stared out a little confused but then turned to Shikamaru, completely ignoring Sasuke, and asked,  
"Where are we?"

Shikamaru answered quickly before Sasuke could get a word in, "The soccer field."

Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion, clearly going over in his head what ways they could possible hurt him with the soccer coach nearby. Finding nothing he once again ignored Sasuke and directed his question to Shikamaru, "Why?"

To Sasuke's dismay, Shikamaru answered before him again, "Chouji wanted us to cheer him on for his last day." Naruto opened his mouth again but then abruptly closed it.

"He wanted to ask you personally but you didn't show up at lunch"

"So your not going to?"

"No." Sasuke said and brushed past him, Shikamaru following suit, leaving Naruto frozen in his spot. Sasuke turned back while still walking and called back to Naruto, "You coming?"

Naruto said nothing. He watched them turn their backs and disappear up the bleachers. '_Run!_' his brain screamed, '_Run while you still can!_' instead he found himself being magnetically pulled towards the two people he hated most in the world. Whatever the reason, he dutifully followed after and climbed the bleachers behind them. Except for the three of them, no one else was watching the soccer practice, Shikamaru was spread across one of the bleachers, watching the clouds while Sasuke sat next to him and staring at Naruto. When they met eyes Sasuke looked away and watched the soccer team do drills. Naruto sat down nervously on the other side of Shikamaru, near his feet and looked timidly down at his own scuffed up shoes. He heard a shift in clothes but kept his head down, he felt so uncomfortable, why was he even here? He broke in a cold sweat. Maybe it was all a plan to trick him, when he felt safe they would bounce like a bunch of angry wolves. Naruto closed his eyes and swallowed deep, this felt so wrong, he needed to leave now! Naruto opened his eyes ready to stand up when he froze as black eyes peered up at him. Sasuke was sitting on the bleachers below him with his fingers entwined under his chin, his eyes studied Naruto carefully. Naruto sat very still, he held his breath and stared back into the narrowed eyes waiting, always waiting for the first move.

"You're scared."

The words took a moment to register, Naruto leaned away and frowned at Sasuke's cool face. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the boy through his bangs, he snarled "I'm not scared!"

Sasuke stood up and towered over the smaller boy. Naruto held strong and kept his gaze solely on Sasuke, but automatically flinched when Sasuke shifted and plopped down next to him, "Games up there, not on your feet."

Naruto bit his lip and forced himself not to slug the rude boy next to him, he stared intently at the field and watched the soccer players run laps around the field. His eyes zoomed in on a lone figure far behind everyone else who seemed to be struggling with keeping up with the team. Even from the distance Naruto could see the shine of sweat glistening off his forehead and soaking his shirt. A call erupted in the air and Naruto watched as a slim man stomped over to the heavy boy that was slowly jogging and started to yell loudly. Naruto recognized the man from gym class, stupid young Physical Education teacher who had just transferred to their school. He was always picking on the fatter students and watching the girls with a leer expression when they did sit-ups. Naruto narrowed his eyes and conjured up his name: Mr. Buddha.

Strange he looked nothing like the jolly fat man that the stores sold with incense. With his buzz cut and locked jaw he looked as if he had just arrived fresh from the military. Inwardly he frowned, Gai was much cooler then this guy, even if his methods were a little out of the ordinary, he was encouraging.

Naruto watched as Chouji desperately tried to run faster then the older and more powerful man, but Buddha kept an even stride with him. "Guess fatty isn't as much a jock as I thought." He snickered but then felt a kick on his side that pushed him closer to Sasuke, he shoved the boy away from him hating the mere brush upon clothing. Naruto turned to glare at the lazy boy and found Shikamaru had propped himself up by the elbow while staring at Naruto angrily. "Don't call him that, Chouji's a good player, he just isn't built for speed."

Naruto gripped the fabric around his knees and snorted "Like I care about that fat fuck." Why did the nerd have to always stick up for the fatty?  
Shikamaru grunted and slowly sat up so he was sitting next to Naruto. With Naruto squeezed between Sasuke and him. Shikamaru faced Naruto and studied him, "Then why'd you save him from the car?"

Naruto huddled closer to himself to persevere heat, though with Sasuke and Shikamaru by his side, had made a mini barrier that blocked out the wind, he could feel their body warmth seeping through his thin jacket. Though the thought of them protecting him made Naruto laugh. He straightened up and shrugged his shoulders carelessly "That was different, I was going to get hit if I didn't shove the fat ass out of the way."

Shikamaru kept staring at Naruto intensely causing Naruto to reach up and cover his scars, a bit of a nervous gesture of his. Finally, Shikamaru looked away and watched the players line up in their positions, only then did he speak, "I was there you know, you were closer to the other side, you could have easily gotten away without a scratch. Instead you pushed Chouji to safety and got hurt." Naruto visibly flinched but kept his eyes on the field, he didn't want to hear this. He focused on something else. Chouji was in the back, close to the goalie. Did that mean he wasn't good? Naruto tried to remember back in gym class when they were learning about soccer. You just kick the ball in the big net, that's not so hard right? So what's the big deal in all these positions? His thoughts were interrupted when Shikamaru's voice infiltrated his mind. "Chouji was excited at lunch today. His father owns a deli uptown and Chouji got him to make a big sub for you. But you didn't show."

Something hit Naruto in the chest, he looked down half expecting to see a clenched hand, but there was nothing just an unwavering feeling of pain. Naruto swallowed thickly, what was that? So Chouji wanted to give him food, so what? Its not like they agreed to sit together. No one had told him what was going on. Naruto pushed away a rise of emotions. No need to feel guilt for that fat tub of lard. He watched a player pass Chouji the ball, the boy took a few steps back. What was happening? Was he scared of the ball? Why was he moving away?

All thoughts vanished in Naruto's mind when Chouji took a hop-step and launched the ball up and over all his teammate's heads, almost making a goal from the other end of the field. Naruto stood up gaping as the ball was hit back to Chouji, once again the boy did his little hop-step and sent the ball fly up in a wide arc and then land gracefully on his teammate's foot, "D-did you see that!" Naruto reached down and absentmindedly tugged on Sasuke's shirt try to get his attention. The boy grinned and allowed him self to be pulled up, "Look! Did you see that? Look how far he can kick it!"

Sasuke detached Naruto from his black shirt and gently pushed him back to his seat like a little child. Naruto's eyes were trained on Chouji, waiting in anticipation for him to be passed the ball again, all the while he was rapidly asking Shikamaru questions, who was explaining the game of soccer. Sasuke couldn't help but smile when he saw Naruto's face brighten up, it was as though he had shed a few years of maturity and become a kid.

Naruto laughed a little and talked as if they weren't there, "Wow, I always wondered how his kicks hurt so much." Sasuke and Shikamaru flinched a little at this comment but Naruto didn't noticed, he was too engrossed in the game. He asked Shikamaru something again but then frowned at the answer. Sasuke leaned over to listen what they were saying and was surprised to see Naruto looking a little upset, he listened as Naruto's voice rose, "What do you mean it's his last day?"

Shikamaru nodded and glanced at the coach who was now yelling at a player for not head-butting the ball when he had the chance, "This is the last practice before indoor winter soccer begins. He's getting cut after today, coach already told him."

"What's cut mean?"

"He's being taken off the team because he's not good enough."

Naruto glared, the childlike smile was gone, replaced with the narrowed angry eyes and a tightened lips, "What the hell are you talking about? You're not making any sense."

Shikamaru blew out, heavily causing a cloud of smoke to hover above his head, he then sighed irritability at the boy, "What's not to get? Couch Buddha's a dick, he believes the only way a team can win is if they're all fast and in shape."

"And I say that's bullshit!" Naruto's face scrunched together, he seemed to be thinking about something important. It suddenly relaxed into a nasty smirk. Before Sasuke and Shikamaru could register what was happening, Naruto stood up and shouted so loud the players momentarily paused in the game to turn and stare at the orange flashing boy, "Hey Anti-Buddha what kind of lame ass idiot are you!"

Damn he was fucking loud! Sasuke reached up to make the boy shut up but Naruto shoved him away effortlessly and started jumping down the bleachers two at a time, all while yelling at the top of his lungs "Where'd you get your degree, College of Dumb Pieces of Shit?" When he reached the bottom, he sprinted towards the fence that surrounded the soccer field, to everyone's amazement, he nimbly leaped over it and landed like a crouched cat. He stood back up and continued to run over to the stunned coach and soccer players. Naruto stopped directly in front of the tall man and eyed him up before placing his hands on his hips, "Why the hell are you cutting Chouji?"

Chouji hurried over and grabbed the glaring boy by the shoulder, shacking him a little, "Naruto what are you doing here?" Naruto made no move to remove the hand but kept a steady gaze on the coach, "Why are you cutting Chouji? I don't know a lot about soccer, but I'd say anyone who's strong enough to kick the ball as far as he does should be pretty valuable."

Coach Buddha glanced around to see most of the team had now clustered around their small group, he looked back down at the short blond kid glaring at him persistently. He then cleared his throat and spoke in a harsh voice usually held for troublemakers, yet the boy didn't even flinch. "As strong as he may be, he's just not fast enough to be on the team, now if he were to loose some weight maybe he'd stand a chance on the team."

A few players started to openly snicker and Chouji's shoulders tensed up a little. His hand slipped off Naruto's jacket and balled into a tight fist before releasing them, "Come on Naruto, get out of here."

Naruto glanced at Chouji and looked around at everyone, including the smug coach, the laughing teammates, and worried friends standing off to the side. He turned back uneasily to see Chouji with his arms self-consciously wrapped around his stomach staring sadly at the ground. The pain in Naruto's stomach suddenly doubled, now there was a tight ache in his chest and it was getting hard to breathe. Naruto scowled angrily before mumbling to himself so softly that Chouji barely caught it, "Goddamn it that better be one hell of a sandwich."

He stomped back over to the coach grabbing his whistle and pulling him down to Naruto's height. "Chouji can beat your fastest runner any day of the week, believe it!" Coach Buddha stared open mouth at the boy as the rest of the team stared in shock. Naruto gave the string another sharp tug to get his attention and announced loudly, "I challenge you! I bet Chouji can beat your fastest in a race."

"What the fuck!" Naruto ignored Chouji's outburst and stared fearlessly into the man's angry eyes, who was too furious to even speak. He then continued casually, "If I win, Chouji stays on the team and never sits on the bench but if I lose you can cut him. The rules are the race has to be fair and equal, deal?" At this point he released the man and pushed his hand in front and waited for the information to slowly process in the man's puny mind. When it finally clicked together he smirked

"He'll never win. Not in a million years, you're on." And with that they shook hands, Coach Buddha tightened his grip slightly hopping to make the boy wince but Naruto waited patiently and then wiped the excess sweat left over from the man's hand. With that, he pushed through the crowd of soccer players, past the two stunned friends. It wasn't until Chouji shouted across the field in a desperately pleading voice, "Naruto!" That the boy starts sprinting to the exit too fast and too far away to ever reach him.

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For the eleventh time that day Naruto sat his extremely heavy backpack on the floor and panted like crazy. He knew it was a bad idea to bring it, but how else was he supposed to carry the items?

In addition, he had been running all around the school trying to avoid being caught by the three boys, he found if he arrived late to class and was the first one to leave it was almost impossible for them to catch him. Speaking of which, Naruto carefully peered out from behind the cafeteria doors and scoped out the area looking for his targets. Ibiki always said, "Know where your enemy is, and you'll know where not to be."

Course it didn't help that two of them had the same class as him. Also Naruto had a rising suspicion that they had somehow broken into the school's computer and managed to get a hold of his schedule, course he discard this theory as one of his over paranoid ideas.

He ignored the people trying to push past him and focused on the table far off, he could make out two figures sitting at his table, yes his, even if the rotten bastards had taken it over. Naruto felt a little tightening in his stomach when he saw Chouji with his head between his hands and food untouched, Shikamaru sat next to him talking calmly while Chouji nodded to every other word. Sasuke was sitting across with his hands folded beneath his chin, for a moment Naruto swore the boy was looking right at him. Shacking off the weird feeling, Naruto reassured himself by reaching down and adjusting the bag so it fit comfortably on his slim shoulders. He took a deep breath and glanced back once more at the doors, only to come face to face with dark, cold eyes.

Naruto's eyes widened and he spun around to run as far away from the pissed off Uchiha, but by some unlucky coincidence a kid had just opened his locker causing Naruto to run head first into the steel frame.

He fell backwards, landing half on the floor, half on his oddly shaped backpack and just stared up at the florescent lighting. Naruto closed his eyes and reached up to touch where a bump was forming, "Ok that really, really hurt." He opened his eyes to see Sasuke leaning over him with a tiny smirk on his lips, Naruto groaned and pressed his arm over his eyes to banish the bastard from his sight, "Somehow, in some way that was all your fault." Sasuke didn't even dignify that with an answer, he reached down to grab Naruto by the elbow and pull him to his unsteady feet. Sasuke used Naruto's momentary confusion to slip around the boy's waist and maneuver Naruto's arm so it was hanging off Sasuke's neck. He then began the slow process of dragging the injured boy down the hallway. Naruto didn't, notice he was preoccupied trying not to stumble over his own feet.

"Don't you dare pass out dobe." Naruto felt himself being pushed down and for a moment he had a relapse of when Sasuke, or was it Chouji, sometimes there face just blurred together, had pushed him down on the bathroom floor and punched him left and right with equal force. That memory caused his stomach to twist painfully, but now instead of hitting the cold hard floor, his back met a plastic yet soft cushion. It was only then that Naruto figured out the surrounding, that fucking bastard brought him to the nurse's office.

Sasuke was rummaging through the cabinets searching for something, the school nurse was nowhere in sight. Sasuke straightened up holding a collection of items in his arms, he set them down in the cushion next to Naruto and began the task of unwrapping a blue ace bandage. Sasuke's face blurred as he came closer, Naruto reached up and tried to grab Sasuke by the throat but the boy blocked his attack and pushed his hands away.

"Dobe you can't kill me inside the school." He chuckled and leaned closer to press a cold compact on the bump. Naruto flinched from the touch wanting desperately to get away, he looked down and covered his eye with his bangs, "It's not like that."

"Then what's it like." Sasuke rolled his eyes and began to tie the bandage around Naruto's head, he moved the bangs away in order to release any trapped hair. Naruto's sharp eyes met Sasuke's and the boy froze under the icy glare, his hand still holding the bangs away.

The tension in the room pressed against Sasuke as Naruto continued to stare at him, then the blond boy's lips turned into a vulpine grin, "What would you have done if I fought back when the school was watching?" It took a minute for Sasuke to replay the question in his mind, the strange smile was confusing him, he tried to think back to the times in the cafeteria and hallways.

Naruto's patience ran out and abruptly answered his own question, "You would have gotten pissed, round up more boys and ganged up on me. Then someone would report a huge fight going on, teachers would get involved, so would the principle. And when everything's said and done I would lose my family." Naruto eyes became softer, no longer really looking at Sasuke but more so right through him, they stayed still for a moment. Sasuke felt the sudden need for Naruto to look at him, for some reason knowing the boy wasn't focused on him was bothersome. He reached over and tied the bandage firmly on Naruto's head. The sudden movements caused Naruto jerk from his thoughts and turn back to Sasuke, his eyes grew old again as he regarded the boy with a glare, "You're not worth that sort of trouble." He hissed out and pressed a hand against the wrapping, his face scrunched up in pain.

Sasuke regarded him carefully as Naruto let out a tiny whimper, he reached over and started to pack the left over items back in their case. "Hm, so you really do feel pain after all."

Naruto glared at the boy, did he enjoy seeing him in pain, what the hell was wrong with this sick bastard? "What's that suppose to mean?"

Sasuke shrugged coolly to Naruto's dismay and propped a hand arrogantly on his chin and stared directly into Naruto's accusing eyes. "You don't yell, you don't scream, you don't even protest when we did shit to you. It like you got use to it or something."

Naruto started at him in confusion waiting for more but nothing came, Sasuke just continued to stare at him. Feeling frustrated Naruto finally blurted out, "So what? You think I got use to pain?" Sasuke said nothing and Naruto leaned back and braced a hand on the cushion. He ran a hand through his hair, stared up at the bright ceiling lights and spoke upward refusing to meet Sasuke's eyes. "Don't listen to that crap in books or movies. No one can get use to pain, humiliation, or defeat. It's not something a person can adapt to like weight." Then something strange happened, Naruto looked back down and smiled softly at him. True it was sad and a little strained but it was meant for Sasuke and no one else, "You remember that."

He then sighed and stretched out his arms, rising from his seat Naruto began to walk towards the exit, he spoke off-handily over his shoulder, "Well this has been fun, with the head concussion and our little chat but I think I need to be going now."

"Wait!" The words were franticly blurted out, it was so strange to hear that sort of urgency in the normally nonchalant boy, that Naruto had no choice except to obey the command. He looked back to see Sasuke sitting stiffly with a panicked look on his face. Sasuke's eyes darted around Naruto's figure desperately trying to think of a way to keep him there for a few more minutes, he said the first thing that came to his mind, unfortunately for him, "Take off your shirt."

"What!" Naruto squeaked out.

Sasuke resisted the urge to smack himself and blushed deeply, he cleared his throat and stood up making Naruto take a few steps backwards and fumble for the doorknob. "As long as were here you might as well put on new bandages."

Naruto blinked at the boy's stone face and then cracked a tiny smile that made Sasuke's heart jump. The smile became a full-blown grin as he sauntered up to Sasuke, no longer afraid, "Ah I see this was all an elaborate plan to get me undressed, Nurse Sasuke."

Sasuke blush deepened, "Shut up! Just take off the fucking shirt."

"Fine but only if you assist me Nurse Sasuke." He winked flirtatiously, and pouted his lips. He laughed as Sasuke glared angrily at him, Naruto hooked his thumbs on the bottom corners of his shirt and peeled off the outer layer. His hand automatically covered the strange tattoo on his stomach, he turned in slow motion showing off his flawless back.

There wasn't a single bruise or cut in sight.

Sasuke stared in shock at the tanned back deprived of any welts, even the cut on his side seemed to have disappeared, without thinking he raised a hand and traced the muscles on Naruto's arched shoulders and down the bony areas of his spine. Naruto shivered from the contact and abruptly pulled away from Sasuke's touch, he spun around and felt a tiny pleasure in his chest as Sasuke opened and closed his mouth like a big gapping fish.

Sasuke still caught up in his thoughts stared blankly at Naruto, trying to force words off his frozen tongue, "H-how'd you do that? How can you heal so fast?"

Naruto smirked and put the large black shirt back on to cover his abnormal skin, "I've got a great immune system."

Sasuke snapped out of whatever he was thinking and raised his eyebrows so high they nearly disappeared into his hairline, Naruto waved his hands in front of his face at Sasuke's skeptical look in his defense. "No really my body heals up little bruises in a matter of hours, the bigger bruises usually take a bit longer."

Sasuke frowned, clearly not satisfied with the answer, "That doesn't make any sense."

Naruto just shrugged his shoulder "Doesn't have to but it's the truth and besides," he picked up the heavy bag again and adjusted it so it fit comfortably on his strong shoulders "I like it better this way. Not like I wanted to be reminded of what you and the others did to me." He opened the door and stepped into the hallway without a second glance at the boy and this time Sasuke didn't have the energy to stop him.

At the last moment Naruto stuck his head back in and smiled, "Hey, tell Chouji not to worry so much, I always keep my promises, and I promise to be there when he crosses the finish line." He shut the door with a soft click.

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"You look like a ninja." Those were the first words that emerged from Shikamaru's mouth when Naruto came ten minutes late to the track field, his bag was dragging behind him in the dirt.

Naruto tilted his head and stared into the reflection of the fence rail, he poked the blue bandage that Sasuke had wrapped around his head earlier and grinned goofy at his image, "Kick ass."

Shikamaru said nothing more but lead Naruto around to the opening of the gate where Chouji, Sasuke, Coach Buddha and the rest of the team were waiting. As soon as Chouji laid eyes on Naruto he trudged over with a worried look in his eyes, Sasuke followed in suit, "Naruto I don't think I can do this" Chouji's eyes bore into Naruto's. He really did look frightened, Naruto felt his chest contract a little as he watched his once bully's eyes look pleadingly into his own asking for a way out or an answer. Naruto wanted to say something, reassure him in some way, but he couldn't get the words out, instead he turned to the smug looking coach. Standing next to Couch Buddha was a tall skinny boy that went up to the coach's shoulder, there wasn't an ounce of fat on him and his face looked like it was carved out of stone. He looked like the kind of kid seen on the front of newspapers grinning proudly after winning a gold metal. Naruto hated him already.

He turned to Coach Buddha and put on a fake smile, "So should we get this started or what?" The coach grinned and motioned Chouji to take his place next to the skinny boy. Chouji did so reluctantly, passing his teammates who sneered and whispered to him under their breath. The boy smirked at Chouji, knowing he had already won the race, Coach Buddha raised his head with his stopwatch poised in front of him. He began the countdown, "On your mark, get set!"

"Wait!" A loud yell interrupted the coach midway, everyone turned to see Naruto waving his hands franticly, "Sorry I almost forgot." Naruto unzipped his bag and reached inside, with much difficulty he pulled out two small bands with square boxes circling the outside. Written on the outside of each were two words printed boldly: guts and willpower.

Sasuke looked down in wonder at the strange objects Naruto was trying to carry, "Where'd you get those?"  
Naruto shrugged and pushed his way to the front where the coach was standing, "Gai let me borrow them."

Naruto placed all the bands in the boy's hand and laughed when the slim boy buckled from the weight. Naruto smiled at the boy's confusion and said, "Tie these around you ankles."

"What are you trying to pull kid? We never agreed to put weights on him!"

Naruto blinked innocently at the raging coach, "But I did. I said it had to be fair and equal, Chouji outweighs him by nearly 100 pounds. So in order for this to be completely fair then he," Naruto absentmindedly pointed at the boy who was still sagging under the weights, "should be carrying the same amount of weight as Chouji."

Naruto dropped the innocent act and smirked coyly at the man, he tilted his head slightly, "Unless of course you don't think he can do it, never too late to give in. Right Coach Buddha?"

If anything the coach's face grew even redder, a tiny vein was pulsing on his forehead as he glared at the short blond boy. He snarled, "Put the weights on son."

"But!" Said boy made a sharp response looking between the weights in his hands and the coach who normally praised him in front of all his teammates.

"Put the God Damn weights on!" The man shouted never taking his eyes off Naruto.

The boy quickly complied and tied the weights, both weighing fifty pounds, around his ankles. He lifted a foot and tested out his state of balance, before gravity forced his foot back on solid ground. He muttered darkly under his breath and staggered over to where Chouji was already lined up on the track.

Coach Buddha also made his way over and eyed the two boys with a sneer, nevertheless he raised his right hand in the air and shouted, "On your mark, get set, GO!" Both boys took off with a slow jog, Chouji at his normal pace and the other boy at a much slower than he's use to.

Naruto leaned against the fence, his eyes trained solely on Chouji. Sasuke and Shikamaru stood on either side of him and watched their friend make the first loop around the track, for the most part they were pretty even. The two friends watched worriedly as Chouji panted and slowly came around the bend for his second lap. Both boys were neck and neck when they crossed the line, Chouji almost stopped completely when Naruto let out a loud booming yell, "Come on Chouji, you can do it! Keep going three more to go!"

Sasuke looked over at Naruto a little surprised, the boy was practically twitching in excitement, and Sasuke glanced back to the track asked in a quiet voice, "Is this really going to work?"

Naruto didn't even tear his eyes from Chouji as he answered back with so much confidence that even Shikamaru looked away from his friend and watched Naruto with curiosity. "Chouji's been carrying more weight over the years than that boy, his muscles have adapted to that body weight in order for him to move, that's why Chouji is stronger, that's why he will win."

They looked back and were surprised to see Chouji was now fifty yards ahead of him. He glanced back as if to really confirm that he was in front and saw the other boy struggling to pick up his weighed down feet. Chouji quickly turned back around and if possible began to run even faster.

Chouji panted heavily as he crossed the line for a third time, his face flushed with embarrassment and pride when he heard his two friends along with Naruto cheering him and hollering to keep going. He kept his eyes straight ahead but couldn't help the smile that crept on his lips.

Chouji swung his arms faster and pumped his legs, he almost laughed when he passed the boy who was struggling to pick up his feet. The boy's breathing was irregular and didn't even look up when Chouji passed him in a slow trot.

The finish line was only fifty yards away now, and he had already passed the other boy once. Chouji lifted his arms up like in the movies and sprinted towards the line. As soon as his feet crossed the line he skidded to a stop and pressed his hands on his kneecaps trying to even out his breathing. Not a second later Shikamaru's hardy hand slapped him on the back and Sasuke punched him on the shoulder. They talked so quickly Chouji could barely hear a word they were saying, he looked off to the side and saw Coach Buddha running after the lagging boy yelling at the top of his lungs. The man was so angry he didn't even notice the spit that was flying out of his mouth and landing on his chin.

It was only then that the thoughts finally sank in. He began to laugh, deeply in the back of his throat, louder every second, he could feel the drip drop of tears squeezing out of his tightly closed eyelids, he didn't bother to wipe them away for he was still laughing to hard. He finally slowed down his breathing until his laughter was nothing except a few chuckling hiccups that squeezed out. The smile still lingered as he said in a faint whisper that only he could hear, "To think a guy like me won."

A flash of blond hair caught his attention, he spun around and saw Naruto smiling sheepishly off to the side with a hand scratching the back of his head in an awkward manner. Naruto finally stepped forward and smiled shyly at Chouji, "Good job." He mumbled and turned around to the gate and leave the celebration to the friends, before he could get a few steps away a hand gripped his jacket and stopped him. Naruto instantly tensed up but he didn't turn around.

"Tomorrow. Will you sit with us in lunch tomorrow? I'll bring you a 12-foot long sub with anything you want on it." Chouji said this all in one breath, his gripped tightened on Naruto's jacket. He tried to be non-threatening but he really wanted Naruto to be there the next day. Sit with him and laugh with him. Be his friend.

Naruto swallowed thickly but still would not turn around. However, unknowingly to him, a small smile touched his lips as he stared at the ground with great interest. He could still hear Chouji's labored breathing behind him waiting for an answer and multiple stares watching him. Feeling a little out of place, Naruto finally relaxed and let go of the breath he had been holding, when he spoke, the pain that had been steadily growing in his chest since yesterday disappeared. "Ok I'll be there."

The next day Naruto Uzumaki did not show up for school.

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**SHOW CHOUJI SOME LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **

**What? There're arn't not enough stories about him. And I have a soft spot for him (ergo the reason I keep saving him from getting hit by cars)**

**PLEASANTLY PLUMP PEOPLE UNITE**

**I've been dying to write the race, you have no idea how badly I want Lee to be the 'boy' running. But arr ya know it won't fit his personality. Le sigh. Ive want to do this in real life too…cuz ive seen the skinny girls race around the track and then laugh as the fat girl is a lap behind. MOFO! The girl is carrying more weight! Of course she be slower! I liked to see them run the laps with the same weight as the other girl! **

**So next chapter something's finally going to be explained!! Don't worry next one wont take as long I already have it pretty much done, just gatta fill in details ya know?**

**Sometimes I worry that I might be forcing too much information about myself on you guys. I want you to enjoy the story but see where I'm coming from…then I remembered you can skip my author notes if you want so ill write away! Mwahhaaa**

**Ok kids listen up story time! Once when I was little I saw this soccer player, she wasn't the best player in fact anytime her foot even touched the ball it was stolen away from her but she was amazing at least in my eyes. The other team would cut her off and she'd fall down !BOOM! Her teammates and parents winced, the referee blew his whistle and everyone started to kneel but then she'd get back up. Didn't even miss a beat, her clothes were dirty by the end of the game and she had scrapes on her elbows and knees she was limping to her other mates, the ones who had scored the goals and shit. I could give a crap about them, its her that I admire. At the end of the game she was all banged up but smiling, she loved the game. That kind of strength is rare ya know? To love a game ur bad at but keep pushing, keep getting up never stopping. Honestly I remember this girl better then anyone else in the world (she had dark hair tied up high on her head in a ponytail, she was bigger then the rest of the girls, chubby cheeks when she smiled lifted up, and she had sweat stain under her armpits). Is there a point in describing all this? Not really...maybe just to say u never know who you affect by your actions. Chapter dedicated to her.**

**Peace**

**sam**


	10. The difference of quantity and quality

**Edit- I huge thank you to my new beta angstkitten for helping me out with this chapter. Three cheers! **

**Wild guess I m going to say you guys didn't like last chapters closing line course im just basing this on the threats from the reviewers lol. Chillax people its here u can breath easy! But hey nothing shows flattery and affection then threatening to bodily harm me for the slow updates :) **

**(im beginning to understand why these profiles are anonymous**

**Oh and I just want to send a special thanks to one of my reviewers:**

**Phantomhobbitses, I close to crying when u wrote that. Thank you so much you have no idea how much that means to me, it's true what I hate it when people choose to do nothing. I couldn't think of a way to really thank you so I figured the next best thing was to dedicate this chapter to you and hope my words can help other people the way you helped Andrew.  
So chapter 10 of Sticks and Stones is dedicated to Phantomhobbitses for standing up and fighting back. Thank you, I wish there were people like you in the world.**

**New fanart from Emi Sue please check out** **her art- at deviantart -name: bunnyblu**

**http://bunnyblu. you know the drill-if u cant link it here look on the bottom of my profile and click the weblink. Other then that? Enjoy!! And don't steal my work please!****

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**Sticks and Stone**

**Chapter 10-The difference of quantity and quality**

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_Paranoia strike deep_

_Into you life it will creep_

_It starts when you're always afraid _

_You step out of line the man will come and take you away_

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The next day, Naruto was not in his first period class.

He was not in second or third period.

He had never come to school.

When lunchtime rolled around Chouji had laughed it off, claming it really didn't bother him that much; in fact, he had predicted this was going to happen. Of course, after he said this, Chouji dumped the sub his father made in the garbage and was silent for the rest of the period.

Shikamaru was also unusually quiet, except for the occasional "troublesome," that slipped from his mouth once in awhile. When he had gotten home yesterday, Shikamaru had looked up some information online. It turned out there was only one official running who would allow same sex marriage in their state, and the election was in six weeks. Even Shikamaru was willing to admit he wanted Naruto there. When he saw Naruto fight back he was shocked, when he saw Naruto yelling at 'Stuart' he was intrigued, and when Naruto cried in his arms he felt guilty. But it was only after seeing what Naruto did for his best friend that he couldn't help but admire the kid for doing that for someone who had tortured him for the last three years. So why was he so surprised that Naruto had skipped out on them?

Last of all, Sasuke sat stiffly in his seat, his eyes narrowed in on the side door to the cafeteria, for the entire period. When the bell finally rang to end lunch, to say Sasuke was pissed off was a bit of an understatement. He let his anger stew inside of him, each moment the minute hand moved the rage grew and grew. To blow them off like that, after he had promised. Promised! Always keep his promises? What a load of bullshit.

By the end of the day, Sasuke was pissed beyond words. When the last bell rang he nearly kicked over the desk to get to the door. Shikamaru and Chouji followed behind their friend without any protest. He roughly pushed off some girls who tried to talk to him, stormed past the school's gate, and blindly rammed his way into the large crowds. It took them less then ten minutes to reach the brick building. Shikamaru and Chouji were the only ones who noticed the neon lights were shut off. Sasuke was too busy throwing the steel door open with enough force for it to slam into the bricks to chip off a large part of the wall.

Yep. Pissed was a bit of an understatement.

"Where's Naruto!" He stormed through the hallway and opened the second doorway, not knowing what he was going to do or what to expect when he did see the orange clad boy. He did not, however, expect to see the blurring image of a man in a green jumpsuit upside down.

Gai was dangling upside down with his feet hooked on a bar above the doorframe, doing rapid sit-ups while shouting at the top of his lungs. "1309…1310…1311…" He stopped momentary when he spied the three boys standing in the doorway. With a blinding grin he gave the boys a thumps up, which looked like a thumps down by the way, and called out to them. "ONLY 689 MORE SIT-UPS AND NARUTO WILL NOT BE SENT AWAY!"

From behind him Kakashi poked his head around to roll his eye and nodded wearily to Gai "Ok Gai, you keep it up." He motioned for the boys to duck under and follow him into the bar area with a light sigh. "Just ignore him, he gets like that when he's nervous."

Upon entering the room, eight adults looked up simultaneously from various parts of the room. People were either sitting slumped over or leaning heavily against a wall. The entire atmosphere gave off the sense of despair and anxiety. No one was drinking or fighting, and no one was smiling. Kakashi abandoned the boys in favor of sitting down next to his best friend, Iruka, and giving him a light kiss on the cheek before pulling him into a hug. Iruka did not respond but sat quietly staring at the blank TV screen.

The boys stood awkwardly off to the side not exactly sure what was going on, until Chouji finally cleared his voice and asked, "Where's Naruto?"

"Upstairs," Asuma answered, but shook his head when they started towards the door that lead to the stairs. "You can't go up there, kid."

"Why not, did he tell you to say that? I'm going to kick that scrawny ass of his! HE PROMISED-" Sasuke was stopped short was a heavy hand fell on his shoulder pulling him away from the door. He looked up to see Ibiki's disapproving eyes watch him.

"He's with a social worker. No one's allowed up there right now."

"Social worker?"

Jiraiya ran a hand through his already messy hair and sighed deeply, closely resembling a lion's growl. "Every so often they evaluate his progress and determine if he's better off here or back at the orphanage."

A low voice tumbled from behind Jiraiya and answered the next question before they even considered it. "We're not allowed up there, part of the regulation. He has to be questioned by himself so we can't influence what he says." Tsunade turned and stared longingly at the bar, wishing she could just have a sip to calm her nerves.

"So he promised you?" They turned to see Genma sitting stiffly on the barstool. He moved the needle to the other side of his lips and continued in a gruff voice to keep the emotion out. "That actually makes a lot of sense. Normally he doesn't try to get out of these, but yesterday he kept trying to get them to change the schedule."

"That's his motto, right?" Iruka's voice rose shakily from the sofa, with his head between his hands, massaging it gently. "Never go back on his promises."

To the boys' horror, the older man let out a long wail and started to cry. Kakashi pulled him closer and started to rub his friend's back in a circular motion, trying to sooth him. "Iruka you need to calm down, they've never taken him away before, right?"

"But it's him! He hates Naruto! They live to torture each other."

"Everyone hates Naruto at first." Everyone in the room turned and glared at Anko for her blunt statement, and she answered with her own fierce glare. "What? Don't look at me like that! I'm saying that at first they hate him. He's part of the family now." Her eyes softened slightly, though it was hard to tell before she shook her head. "Besides, you're severely underestimating the kid. We've all experienced firsthand how Naruto can lie, cheat, and blackmail if it means getting what he wants." That brought a few smiles on their faces, except for Iruka.

"Come on, calm down a little. Here, let's watch another video." Iruka nodded mutely and pointed to the next video stacked on the pile. Kakashi turned it over and nodded in approval. "His first birthday with us, it is." He walked over and placed the tape inside and pressed play. The other adults were almost pulled magnetically towards the TV, each finding his or her own place with a good view. Sasuke slowly slid down in the seat next to Iruka and pressed his knees tightly together.

The screen went blank for a minute, and buzzed before picking up to reveal a black screen, with green numbers at the top establishing that the camera was playing, yet nothing could be seen.

Sasuke squinted at the screen waiting for something to happen, after a few seconds he asked, "Is it broken?" which was responded to with a collage of shushes.

The lens was abruptly pulled away revealing a bright blue eye that blinked and then moved closer again until the TV was once again shrouded in darkness. A tiny giggle was heard as the camera was pulled away but this time it traveled down lower to record a grinning mouth with black lines starting at the corners just above the tan dimples. The mouth opened and revealed a tongue that wiggled and waved to its audience, then the camera traveled slowly into the mouth causing the lens to fog up, and another laugh was heard.

Suddenly in a flash the face disappeared, orange and black whirled together as the camera tumbled to the ground and landed with a thump. "I'm sorry Iruka! I'll fix it! I'm really sorry!" Tiny shoes came in view along with a tiny scrap of orange shirt. The shoes vanished as steady hands straitened out the lens giving them a brief view of the room that was filled with streamers and balloons. The camera moved again and for a second they could see the ending of a banner that read, in bright orange lettering, '-thday Naruto!!'

"Don't worry Naruto, it's fine, see? You dropped it on the carpet, no harm done." A kind voice responded, a dark shape flickered over the lens wiping away any smudges. It was then flipped around so that Iruka's face came in view and then he lowered it down.

"Smile." Naruto and Iruka's faces squeezed together to fit on the small screen. Naruto was much younger looking, around ten. He smiled broadly into the camera causing his scars to stretch evenly across his face, his eyes were tightly squeezed closed, and that made his nose wrinkle up. Iruka's head was tucked snuggly into the crook of Naruto's neck, and he too grinned at the camcorder, but more relaxed with his eyes shut lightly.

After some time Iruka nudged Naruto on the side and said, "Let's save the batteries a little, ok?"

"Ok!" Naruto responded immediately; it was hard to miss the admiration and fondness shining in his voice.

The screen was black again.

It buzzed until the darkened screen started to take in a few shapes. If you looked closely, you could just barely make out a table crowded with people. At the head was a tiny figure compared to the rest. Just as the video started to adjust to the dark room it abruptly pulled in a different direction.

"Let me hold it," a voice whispered and the screen moved again.

"No, I got it," a gruff female voice commanded, the other voice grumbled in response.

"You ready Naruto?"

The small figure waved at the video camera and shouted, "Ya-Ya! Bring it on!" The adults chuckled at his hyper active response.

"One. Two. Three." A small amount of light started to filter in casting shadows on the walls. They could dimly make out a young Naruto sitting at the head of the table surrounded by the other adults who then began to sing.

"Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday dear-"

"MY CAKE'S ON FIRE!"

Everyone in the room froze as Naruto leaped out of his seat and pointed at the birthday cake. He looked around as if he couldn't believe no one had noticed it.

"SOMEONE SET MY CAKE ON FIRE!"

Sasuke nearly choked on his own spit as he looked around and saw the others were also trying to suppress their own laughter. Sasuke grinned and turned back to the TV. On the screen Asuma was the first one to recover. He raised a useless hand and motioned to the cake. "No, wait Naruto, it's suppose-"

Naruto either didn't hear or understand what Asuma was trying to say; he was franticly searching the table for something as the adults sat stunned in their seats. Naruto finally found what he was looking for and held Jiraiya's glass of water tightly in his hand. "WE GOT TO PUT IT OUT!"

That woke up everyone from the daze in horror. They all jumped from their spots and reached out to grab the blond boy before he could leap across the table to douse the cake. "NO NARUTO, DON'T!" The camera was abruptly shoved away causing the screen to become static until it suddenly overcame the entire screen with a low buzz. Genma reached over and turned the TV off

The silence stretched on as everyone continued to stare at the blank screen even though the imagine had long faded away. The three young adolescents sat, a little ruffled, all harboring the same thought. "_This is what Naruto should be like all the time. Not the emotionless kid who sits in the back, or gets his head dunked daily in the toilet._" Compared to the innocent ten-year-old, the cold, impassive Naruto was pitiful.

A choked sob brought everyone back to reality. Iruka was leaning forward and pressing his hands tightly into his eyes. Kakashi rubbed soothing circles on his back, mumbling comforting words. Sasuke was left useless, sitting on the other side watching a grown man fall apart. In the back of his mind he knew he should say or do something but in the end it's not his problem, right? Getting involved would only cause problems and the matter really was out of his hands.

Funny how a person's mind can change sometimes, because in the end all it took was for Iruka to utter seven words that changed Sasuke's mind. A single sentence that forced Sasuke to jump up from his spot and sprint to the open bar. Shikamaru and Chouji were still seated, they had not heard what Iruka said, as their friend dodged the adults and ducked under the bar to the steel door. They quickly followed before the adults could respond and try to keep up with Sasuke. Iruka made no move to follow them, so everyone else remained in the room with a new worry burdening their hearts. Iruka wiped a tear that escaped from the seal of his eye and leaned closer to Kakashi. He softly repeated the words again.

"I don't want to lose my son."

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Chouji and Shikamaru raced up the stairs taking two at a time, trying to catch up with Sasuke. When the three of them paused to catch their breath from the three flight sprint, they were now standing in front of apartment 11C. They looked nervously at each other, unsure of what to do. Stepping closer Shikamaru placed an ear against the wooden frame and motioned the others to do the same. Within the walls they could hear two muffled voices arguing. Feeling a bit braver, Sasuke let his fingers brush against the cool metal knob, before wrapping his hand tightly around it and giving the door a tiny shove. It slid open without a sound, allowing the muffled voices to become clearer, the boys edged their way in and started walking quietly down the hall, following the voices.

"Get it over with closet pervert, you've already taken up most of my day." Sasuke stopped short at the sound of Naruto's voice, causing Chouji to collide his back. They were in front of Naruto's room.

The second unidentified voice stuttered before speaking with a snotty tone. "You will treat me with respect and call me by my proper name- Ebisu!"

This was followed by an undignified snort. "If it's respect you want, start by respecting me!"

The boys peeked out from their spot on the wall with just enough vision to see Naruto standing strong, with his arms crossed on his chest. The other person moved, giving the boys a view of a tall, gangly man, dressed in all black with a bandana and dark glasses.

The man pushed his dark shades upward with his middle finger so they rested delicately on the bridge of his nose. In his hand he held a clipboard and pen which he used to check something off once in a while. He looked down at the arrogant blond and smirked. "I see your grades are still low." With a grand swoop he checked off something on the clipboard. Naruto made a sound of protest in the back of his throat but the man ignored him and continued to speak. "Clearly you are not adapting to the environment. Also you have not joined any after school activities; this may show that you're not attempting to socialize."

Naruto face grew red and he sputtered, "I'm busy after school! I don't have time for stupid clubs or sports! Besides, the other social workers said that stuff didn't matter as long as I don't fight in school! Check my record, I've never thrown a single punch or started any fights!" Naruto smiled victoriously as if the battle had been won but Ebisu just laughed.

"Yes, well, I'm not like the other social workers. I like to see improvement. And even though I applaud the fact you have not fought in school, with that nasty temper of yours, if there is not enough improvement to prove that this is the right setting for you, then maybe you really are better off back at the agency."

Naruto froze after these words, as did Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sasuke. Sasuke's breath got caught in his throat and he unintentionally gripped the wall tighter, with his eyes still trained on Naruto. It made sense, all those times he could have fought back, but he wouldn't.

Not because he was weak or afraid of getting hurt, but because he had something that could be lost; something he had to protect.

Sasuke felt Chouji tug on his sleeve and knew his friend had just put everything together as well. He glanced back to see Shikamaru watching with narrowed eyes and tight lips.

He turned back to see Naruto shaking like a newborn deer; he was staring at the man with such fear and despair. Seeing Naruto frightened over the threat was like a slap in the face. In the brief time they had known the real Naruto, not once had the boy let them have any power of fear over him. But now, standing in his bedroom with blankets and pillows thrown carelessly on the floor, they saw the weak, self-conscious part of Naruto, too frightened to even speak in fear that he might be sent away from his guardian; something Sasuke never want to see again.

Naruto finally composed himself and took a long shaky breath, then let it out slowly. The man looked like the cat that ate the canary as he leaned down to the frightened boy and pushed his glasses up again with his middle finger. "So, tell me Naruto, how many friends do you have? And I don't mean the adults from downstairs. They hardly qualify as mature as it is."

"I-," Naruto hesitated; he was still a little uneasy from Ebisu's statement but answered back in a confident tone that made Sasuke proud. "I have friends."

The man tilted his head as if he could see right through Naruto's lie and smirked knowingly. "Really? Real friends, that is? You know imaginary ones don't count."

Naruto scrunched up his nose and narrowed his eyes. "They're real!"

"Then what are their names?"

This question clearly took him by surprise as Naruto shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, trying to buy time. "Names?"

The man sighed irritably but secretly enjoying the boy discomfort. "Yes. You know, names; that by which they are called."

Naruto hesitated for a long moment. He shuffled his feet around and played with his jacket's zipper. He finally looked back at the man's dark rimed glasses and pronounced each name slowly with much consideration. "Chouji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke."  
Sasuke's mouth dropped open when he heard his name, and from the look on his friends' faces they were clearly surprised that Naruto had chosen them as well. He could have lied or chosen a random name, why did he pick theirs? Was he being serious, or were those the only names he could come up with at the moment? As Sasuke wondered this, he nearly missed what Ebisu said next.

"And they're real, you say?"

"I already told you!"

"Yes. Three, it seems; not a lot if you think about it." Ebisu clucked his tongue in disapproval trying to word his next question. "Am I to assume they are normal? What do you do when they're around?"

"We hang out after school." Sasuke couldn't help but notice that Naruto didn't mention how during that time spent after school he had beaten the shit out of the three boys. Naruto sucked in his cheek and tried desperately to come up with something else that would please the man. "They slept over one time," Naruto muttered. He missed a flicker of emotion that played across Ebisu's face when he said that and continued on. "We were supposed to eat lunch today." Naruto's voice lowered after that as he sadly stared at the floor before turning accusing eyes on Ebisu and snarled, "It's your fault I had to break my promise; they're probably mad at me now!"

Sasuke knew he should say something now or at least let them know he was there, but he found himself unable to. He was still struck dumb that Naruto acknowledged him as a friend and wanted to eat lunch with them. Turns out he didn't have to say anything, because it was Chouji who stepped out from behind the wall and waved to the shocked man in black and the even more startled Naruto. He smiled and dragged Shikamaru out in the open with him. "Hey, Naruto."

Strangely enough Naruto's face resembled a fish as he stared at the two boys. With a nonchalant attitude Sasuke stepped out from behind the wall as well and nodded at Naruto.

"What the hell!" Ah, it seemed Naruto regained his ability to speak.

"You didn't come to lunch," Sasuke said plainly, as if that answered everything.

A brief emotion flittered across his face before it was replaced with panic, he took a step forward and gently pushed Chouji away from Ebisu. "Listen, you guys need to leave, just wait downstairs or something." He grabbed Shikamaru's elbow and tried to direct him to the door as well, and he looked up at Sasuke unable to force him outside with two occupied hands and gave him a pleading look. Sasuke tried to rule out his choices. Obviously Naruto was afraid they'd blow his cover and was trying to nicely tell them to get the hell out of there but from what Sasuke had seen the boy was clearly frightened of Ebisu and the power he had over Naruto. Even as Naruto's eyes begged him he didn't budge, this caused a soft mocking voice to rise from behind Naruto.

"How interesting."

Naruto's pleading eyes narrowed in disgust as he twisted to see Ebisu's loathing grin. With his hands still holding on to Shikamaru and Chouji he called back over his shoulder. "You say something, closet pervert?" Ok, maybe Naruto wasn't as afraid of the man as Sasuke first thought. That, or he was just plain stupid.

"Stop calling me that, you insolent delinquent!" he sputtered out before composing himself, and smiled coldly enough to cause shivers to run down their backs. "I was just thinking how Iruka's sexual preferences have already been established, but perhaps he's rubbed off on you as well." His smile turned sour as he nodded to Naruto's hands that still held onto Chouji and Shikamaru's sleeves.

"What are you saying?"

"Simply that you seem to prefer the company of boys to girls." Naruto's hands quickly retreated from the boys' arms as he stared in disbelief at Ebisu. He continued on while watching Naruto uncomfortably avoid his so-called friends' eyes. "And besides, a child raised in a same sex marriage will only understand that type of relationship; a gay family can only raise a gay child."

Sasuke watched as Naruto's face contracted in anger, his muscles tensed, but then suddenly relaxed with ease. He mimicked Ebisu's twisted smile and laughed to their amazement. "Oh, sure, because straight families only produce straight kids, right?" With an undignified snort Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, taking a similar stance as he had when facing Coach Buddha. "Asshole, don't you ever try to disrespect Iruka or any of my family like that."

Ebisu's face clouded in anger when his words took no affect on Naruto, time to pull out the big guns. "Listen to me, Naruto." The blond boy looked up in surprise, he had never actually heard Ebisu use his real name before. The man spoke slowly and used no sweet words to shield Naruto from the harsh truth. "They are not your family, they will never be your family. Get that through your mind already."

A look of helplessness flashed across Naruto's face before it was replaced with confidence and certainly. "You're lying! If I can get enough people to vote for same sex marriage then Iruka and Kakashi will adopt me! Everyone else downstairs said they'd sign to be my legal aunts and uncles, too. It's not impossible; I can do it!"

Ebisu shook his head tiredly. "Naruto you know it won't pass, everyone downstairs knows this as well, they just want to spare your feelings." Naruto violently shook his head, as if to ward off the words but Ebisu spoke slowly, making sure every word penetrated the boy. "Naruto, a word to the wise. Here is the truth about the truth: it hurts, so we lie."

Naruto's arms, that had been crossed confidently across his chest, squeezed tighter around his form, until it appeared to be the only thing holding him together. He shut his eyes and breathed in slowly, until his body relaxed in an unusual way. When he finally opened his eyes he was no longer staring at Ebisu or any of them, instead he seemed to be much farther away. Sasuke felt a deep chill run down his spine, this was the Naruto that he was sickly familiar with. The same emotionless, unresponsive boy that he would shove into lockers and give swirlies to.

He looked up to see Ebisu even more pissed off than when Naruto called him names or made some snippy remark. The angry man stepped forward and tightly grabbed Naruto's arms and forced him to look straight into his eyes; still nothing. "I see how it's going to be. You're just going to put on that act like every time you don't want to hear the truth."

When Naruto gave no response, Ebisu growled darkly and started shaking the boy like a rag doll. "You spoiled, ungrateful, brat! Always breaking rules and letting emotions rule over you; you're pathetic to watch." He finally let go and Naruto stared at him impassively as if his words meant nothing at all. "Oh, but why should I be the only one to enjoy your little Gandhi act!" Ebisu snapped and turned to the three boys and let them in on one of his favorite blackmail materials on the young blond. "He can hear everything you say, so you just need to push the right buttons."

The boys said nothing but stood next to the silent boy and watched the ongoing war between Naruto and Ebisu commence. Sasuke seriously doubted the man could break through. After three years of unrelenting torture, what could this man possibly say to get a reaction out of the dulled-eyed boy?

With a snarl, Ebisu turned back to Naruto and tried to think of something that would get a rise out of the boy; something personal that caused self-doubt. The first step in action was to strike the boy's pride. "Naruto, what's the point in all your effort? No one listens, anyway. It's time to wake up. Dreams are flimsy little wishes you make until you grow up and realize the world gets in the way of your little fantasy."

Naruto's face remained carefully blank and betrayed nothing. Ebisu inwardly cursed himself, he should have known the boy would never admit his doubts out loud. Maybe it was time to use something Naruto feared worse then losing his guardians. He inched closer searching for any type of reaction as he asked in a sly voice, "So Naruto, tell me, have you received anymore letters from your father?"

There! Naruto's fingers curled in to a fist but his eyes remained blank. But it wasn't enough, not enough to push the boy over the edge. Ebisu glanced around and his eyes landed on the pile of blankets and pillows Naruto used as a makeshift bed. "Ah, I see you still sleep on the floor, just as you did as a child. Just like a little fox."

The light suddenly filtered back in Naruto's eyes, he shoved Ebisu away from him and screamed, "DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"And there it is." Ebisu smiled coyly as the three boys stared in shock at the fuming blond. They felt it before Naruto made a move, with a six sense Chouji and Shikamaru each grabbed a hold of Naruto's arms as the boy nearly leaped across the room to tear Ebisu's eyes out. It wasn't enough. Naruto clawed and scratched his dull fingernails against their raw skin trying to escape. It took all their strength just to hold onto him, and even that wasn't enough to keep Naruto from dragging them, slowly, inch by inch, closer to Ebisu. Sasuke quickly set to work by wrapping his arms around Naruto's waist to keep him anchored, he slammed Naruto's struggling body against his own, and held on tightly. The thrashing boy didn't even notice the added weight. He was still cursing and screaming at Ebisu, who had wisely put some distance between them.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I HATE YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Ebisu was obviously not disturbed by the outburst, in fact, he chuckled and sauntered over to the struggling boy to flick him on his forehead, causing Naruto to halt in his yelling but he still struggled to escape their grip. "Ah, such aggression, not much has changed, has it, Naruto? You're still the same child who wouldn't sleep on top of his bed, only hide underneath. Do you remember when you told me why you did that? You told me monsters are supposed to sleep under the bed, not on top of it."

All Naruto's thrashing and biting came to a screeching halt. The boys were so surprised they almost fell over. Naruto didn't notice, he was still staring at Ebisu with an unreadable look in his eyes. He finally looked away and stared wordlessly at the ground.

They could feel Naruto trembling, Chouji and Shikamaru could feel the vibration of his arms through their grip. Sasuke had his front plastered against Naruto's back and could feel the boy curl into himself in a final act of desperation. Naruto slumped down, making it hard for Sasuke to hold him, but he clamped his hands tighter trying to keep him stable. Naruto's lips were moving but no words were coming out. Sasuke twisted his head and rested his head on Naruto's back so he could hear Naruto's soft unspoken words.

"Stop it. Just leave me alone. Please just leave me alone."

Ebisu smiled wickedly and leaned forward. "What's that, Naruto? I can't quite hear you, you must speak up or no one will know what you want."

He was shoved away not by Naruto but by Chouji, who forcibly put distance between the man and the overwhelmed boy. Using his weight as an advantage, Chouji tried to block Naruto from sight and glared at the bewildered man who had apparently forgotten they were there. "Leave him alone."

Shikamaru also released Naruto's arm and stepped in front of him as if to block any verbal attack the man might try. "Don't talk to him that way."

Naruto had sunken lower in Sasuke's grip so he was able to nudge his head so it rested comfortably on the smaller boy's shoulder joint. When he talked he could feel Naruto relax in his embrace but still made no move to speak, so Sasuke spoke for him. "You're the one who's sick. You're a social worker. You're supposed to help kids like Naruto, not treat them like animals."

The entire room fell silent as Ebisu turned his narrowed eyes to the three boys. Shikamaru broke the tension by sighing and shoving his hands deep into his pockets, he stepped closer to Naruto and leaned on him. "What a drag. Hey, adult, if he's doing bad in school I'll start helping him with his studies; he'll improve."

Feeling courageous after his friend's offered to volunteer, Chouji voiced his own opinions. "As for an after school activity, he's involved in politics. That should count as some sort of activity."

Ebisu face grew red with rage as he pushed his dark glasses closer and sputtered out. "True, but the side he has chosen is certainly not proper nor appropriate!"

Chouji pictured Naruto standing in the middle of that crowd handing out flyers with a smile and singing to get their attention. With that image, Chouji felt more confident as he leaned over and let his hand rest on Naruto's elbow when he spoke. "Does the side really matter? Do you have the right to decide if what he believes is right or wrong?"

Ebisu had nothing to say to that, his lips twisted with disgust but no words came out, there was nothing he could respond with that wouldn't bind him to legal terms.

"We'll be Naruto's friends." Sasuke shifted his arms to get a better hold on Naruto, who was still trying to suppress any tears from coming out. "It doesn't matter if there is only three of us, it's not about quantity it's about quality. It's better to have a few real friends then a million fake ones." Sasuke's sharp eyes locked onto Ebisu, and for a moment the man seemed to shrink under the piercing gaze. "Don't you agree?"

Ebisu said nothing, and with an unreadable expression, he pushed past the four boys and headed towards the door, the evaluation complete. Still, he was unable to stop himself from turning around once more and watching as Sasuke hugged Naruto tightly to him, while Shikamaru was gently talking to him, and Chouji shaking him a little to get his attention. Ebisu pushed his glasses to cover his eyes and mumbled to himself, "Maybe I was wrong about you, Naruto Uzumaki."

With that, he closed the door and made his way to the stairs, mentally preparing himself for the dreaded speech he would have to give the adults downstairs.

Back inside the room, the boys were still trying to snap Naruto out of his traumatized state. As horrible as it sounded, Sasuke wished he could just slap Naruto. It was killing him to see the boy in such a weak state but he knew from past experience physical violence was not the way to go. Instead he tried to calm the boy down with soothing words.

"Naruto, look, he's gone. It's alright now."

Naruto was sucking in as much air as possible in tiny gasps, trying desperately to suppress the lump caught in the depths of his throat. He scrunched up his eyes and was able to squeeze out the one thought that was processing through his head in a shaky breath.

"Why does he always have to bring up that son of a bitch?"

The boys said nothing, just watched in silence as Naruto bit his lips and tried to calm himself down by breathing in through his nose. He reopened his eyes and stared at his carpet, his words laced with venom. "He's not my father! Iruka is my father! Kakashi is my father! Jiraiya is my father! Ibiki is my father! Asuma is my father! Hayate is my father! Genma is my father! Gai is my father! Anko is my father! Tsunade is my father!" Sasuke was sure Naruto was just ranting now, he probably wasn't even aware of who he was talking, to as long as he could talk.

"They should be my family, not him! They were the first ones to care, they took away that thought, that feeling that I am not needed by anyone in this world. I don't want to go back! They want me here, they told me they wanted me. So why can't I stay? Iruka promised he'd adopt me! He promised he'd be my dad." Naruto seemed to run out of breath, he limply bowed in Sasuke's embrace and stared at the carpet yet not really seeing it. He unconsciously raised his hands and touched his bangs before tugging his roots sharply and painfully. Chouji felt a little worried and tried to gently unhook Naruto's fingers from his tangled hair, but Naruto shook his head, tugging his hand as well as Chouji's out of his hair. He seemed to have regained his speech as well as anger.

"But not him! Never him! That man, he's not my father! Fathers don't do that to their sons. Fathers don't do this." Naruto's hand slid down and clenched his stomach and bowed down to protect it. Without hesitation, Sasuke reached down and placed his own hand on top of Naruto's to stop him from hurting himself. Naruto twisted his head in surprise, as if he just realized who else was in the room. He stared into Sasuke's eyes, there noses brushing lightly against one another.

He asked Sasuke an honest question. "It's not something fathers do when they love you, right?"

Sasuke was unsure of what Naruto was saying but he could see the boy was depending on his words, he suspected at this moment if he truly wanted to, he could crush the boy with a few short words. Naruto's eyes pleaded with him, begging for some sort of response, he looked so sad, slumped over, his hand still painfully clutching his stomach. Sasuke finally answered the question. "Just because your not related to everyone downstairs doesn't stop them from being you family."

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a long moment before nodding slowly with a tiny sigh, and looked away from the raven boy. He stared at the floor with a tired smile and whispered, "I need to sit down."

"Ya sure, let me just-" Too late, Naruto was already sinking to his knees unwillingly dragging Sasuke down with him. They landed with an awkward 'thump' with Naruto sitting on top of Sasuke's crossed legs and the boy's arm still wrapped around Naruto's hand and stomach. From above Shikamaru and Chouji both chuckled as the boys tried to detach themselves without much success, both of their faces were red in embarrassment.

"Dobe, get off!"

"Shut up, bastard! My legs are caught!"

Chouji and Shikamaru offered no help, both felt slightly relived as they watched the two boys struggle and curse each other out. Their fun was abruptly ended when the front door was nearly knocked off its hinges and the adults from downstairs started pushing their way in. With a grand swoop Naruto was lifted off the stunned Sasuke and put into a headlock by Jiraiya.

"You sneaky little brat! How the hell did you pull that off?"

Naruto mumbled something, but it was lost due to the fact that Jiraiya's side was blocking his mouth and nose He was knocked loose by Iruka, who wrapped his arms around Naruto and lifted him from the ground. "Naruto, you did it! I can't believe you did it!"

Naruto's world spun round as faces turned blurry, he blinked and tried to concentrate solely on Iruka's overjoyed smile. "What?"

"He gave permission for you to stay another year." Iruka furrowed his brows together and asked, "Didn't he tell you?"

Anko tugged Naruto away from Iruka who fondly bopped him on the head with a wide smile. "Who cares, Naruto gets to stay! This calls for a party!"

"YES WE MUST CELEBRATE OUR YOUTH THOUGH MUSIC AND DRINKS!"

Everyone turned to the shouting man and gave him a look, and Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Ok, no alcohol for Gai."

"Agreed," everyone, even the three forgotten boys, said simultaneously.

Kakashi cocked his head and stared at Naruto. "Seriously though, I thought you two hated each other. How'd you convince him?"

Everyone turned to look curiously at Naruto who opened and closed his mouth before smiling and scratching the back of his head absentmindedly. "Well, you know, just offered to give him Jiraiya's new book before it hits the shelf."

Jiraiya took on a perverted gleam, he gleefully started to rub his hands together and a tiny amount of drool rolled down his lips. "If that's the case, I should be crunching in some more 'research' time."

Tsunade smacked him over the head and started shouting. "You perverted oaf! Any excuse to spy on women!"

"Hey, don't be so harsh! Anything to ensure Naruto's future, right?"

Everyone started filing out, chatting and generally roughhousing to get out the door first, but Kakashi waited behind a little. He reached over and ruffled Naruto's untidy hair, before shoving his hand back in his pocket and closing his eye in happy smile. "I'm proud of you, son." With that he followed the line out the door and draped a loose hand around Iruka's shoulder.

Naruto stared at the closed door with a bewildered face before breaking out into a huge grin and touching the top of his head where Kakashi's warm hand had been moments before. The boys watched Naruto's smile and felt certain uneasiness. Sasuke cleared his throat to catch the distracted boy's attention. "We should get going."

The smile vanished from Naruto's face and was replaced with a confused and baffled expression. "You're leaving?"

Shikamaru nodded and buttoned up the three buttons that had come undone during the commotion. "Ya, got to go home and eat, or else Mom will be pissed."

Chouji offered a smile at the lost boy. "See you at school, ok? This time you better come to lunch." Naruto nodded slightly and watched as they walked down the hallway to the front door.

"Wait!" They stopped and turned to see Naruto with a dismayed expression. He quickly caught up with them and started talking extremely loud and fast. "Um, everyone usually brings what they can and, um, we always have lots of leftovers. So I thought, since I didn't have lunch this doesn't count as dinner it counts as lunch and, um, I said I would eat with you guys." Naruto glanced up but then quickly looked back towards the ground and shuffled his feet around before a light blush coated his cheeks. "But, I mean, if you want to leave that's alright too, I just thought you might be hungry."

The boys said nothing, and stared at Naruto as he fidgeted under their gaze. As the seconds ticked by, Naruto started to feel more and more like an idiot for asking such a stupid question. Just because they got him out of a tight situation doesn't mean they liked him or actually wanted to be his friend. Naruto's chest tightened as he wondered how much of Ebisu's conversation they had heard. After a moment, Naruto finally looked back up to take back his offer, but Chouji beat him to it.

"Good, I'm starving!" Sasuke nodded along with Shikamaru and watched as Naruto stared wide eyed at them before turning around and marching off to the kitchen and called back, "I've got to bring my share down."

As Naruto turned the corner, Sasuke could just barely make out the upturned corners of Naruto's mouth pulled back in a smile. They followed dutifully after him and watched as Naruto open a shelf to reveal an entire cabinet stuffed with instant ramen.

Shikamaru openly stared at the cases as they tumbled out and landed in a pile. He scooped up one that fell on the floor and checked the nutrition value. "So this is your idea of a healthy food balance?"

Naruto snatched the case out of Shikamaru's hand and cradled it protectively to his chest. "Hey, don't diss ramen! Besides, that's not the only food I have; it's just my favorite, see?" With that, Naruto pulled open his refrigerator door that was packed with an assortment of brightly colored food. When Sasuke reached past Naruto and pulled out the milk to check the expiration date, Naruto seized it from his hands and placed it back in its proper spot. He turned back to them and raised a single eyebrow. "Happy?"

Chouji frowned, feeling very much like a parent scolding his kid, and asked in a stern voice. "What about last time, with all the eggs?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulder, turned back to the piles of ramen on the counter, and started to stack them one on top of another. "I was short on cash that month. I spent a lot of money on those posters and pamphlets." With balance and grace, Naruto placed the twelfth ramen on the very top of his pile and tucked it under his chin, and used his hips to nudge the refrigerator door shut. Without warning, Shikamaru took eight packets from under Naruto's chin, despite the boy's protest, and handed his friends three each.

A 'thank you' was on the tip of Naruto's tongue but he stopped himself before he could actually say it. If he said thank you to this he would also be obliged to say thanks for stopping me from hitting Ebisu, thank you for not taking advantage of a weak moment, thank you for not asking any questions. Just a lot of 'thank you's he was not ready to say or acknowledge, so instead he just gave a sharp nod.

A shrill beeping that started to go off, but was muffled by the walls, broke the moment. "The fire alarm is going off." Shikamaru stated obviously causing Naruto to smirk despite himself.

Naruto sniffed the air and smiled. "Heh, Gai must be cooking. That's kind of our dinner bell, it mean it's time to eat."

He left the kitchen and could feel the boys following behind him, but didn't turn back, even when Sasuke sped up and started walking down the stairs side by side with him.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Naruto wrenched open the sticky door with his free hand and a wave of mixed scents rode over them. When they walked further into the room, the first thing the boys noticed was that instead of eating at a table, like any normal family would do, everyone was gathered around the center cage. People were climbing inside, carefully balancing whatever meal they had scraped together in the last fifteen minutes.

Naruto lifted his head up, breathed in the wonderful aroma, and with ease he ran over and slipped between the ropes to crawl into the center of the cage. With much hesitation the three remaining boys climbed inside, not quite as graceful as Naruto had done, and tried to find a spot that was not already covered with food or a seated person. Shikamaru and Chouji quickly found a seat next to Asuma, who had a game board in front of him. Sasuke was left standing awkwardly off to the side trying not to get squashed by the incoming traffic.

"Watch out."

"Coming though!"

"Out of the way! HOT HOT HOT!"

All the commotion and chatter pushed Sasuke unwillingly closer and closer to the middle of the cage. He tried to sidestep in order to avoid a steaming hot plate of steaks placed almost directly on his feet. As a result his feet got tangled up, he tripped and fell onto his knees jarring someone who was already sitting cross-legged and eating. He used the person to steady himself before looking up and recognizing the blond hair and blazing orange jacket. Naruto turned and looked at the pale hand on his shoulder before glancing up into the boy's dark eyes.

Sasuke expected to receive a glare but was taken back when Naruto's eyes showed genuine curiosity as to why Sasuke was pushed so close to him. He slurped the noodles hanging from his lips and swallowed before asking, "What? You want some?"

The normally angry blue eyes watched him with neither malice nor hatred. Just calm, curious intentions that Sasuke could not help but be struck dumb by.

Thinking that Sasuke couldn't decide between the wide spread of foods, Naruto leaned closer and whispered in the boy's ear. "I don't recommend eating pasta Tsunade made, it usually ends up with some kind of nasty alcohol in it, but Anko usually makes good dangos, and of course there is always the best food ever to be chemically packaged and outlive the human race- ramen!" Sasuke barely understood the words he was too intent on the tiny patches of breath warming his ear. A light blush dusted his cheeks as he nodded to whatever Naruto was saying, apparently this was the right course of action because Naruto gave him a wide smile before plopping a bowl of soup in his hands.

Tsunade grinned and motioned to Jiraiya with a flicker of the eyes. She smirked and mouthed the word, "Winning," followed by wagging her eyebrows suggestively at him, causing his face to grow red with fury. Kakashi noticed their little dispute and put in his own two cents. "Not gay, straight as an arrow." Tsunade frowned while Jiraiya almost cried out in joy, at least someone was on his side. Of course, that was before Kakashi asked, in a sly voice, "So, about your new book."

Jiraiya growled and turned his back on Kakashi and started shoveling as much food as possible in his mouth to stop himself from screaming. Kakashi leaned over Jiraiya's back and sent Tsunade a wink, or it could have just been a blink, it's hard to tell with the mask. Nonetheless, Tsunade lit up in joy as she turned back to watch the two boys interact with each other. When Sasuke glanced at Naruto and then turned away blushing, Tsunade couldn't stop the evil cackle from escaping her lips and thought to herself, "_I'm so going to win_."

* * *

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**I wanted to die when I wrote a certain line _'You told me monsters are suppose to sleep under the bed not on top of it.'_**

**i nearly cried! That's such a horrible thing to say, then of course i realized i wrote it…..**

**So I hope this clears up a couple of questions. I m glad I made Ebisu a bitch even though I hate him I needed Naruto to go into his 'retreat'. Now at least Naruto is making progress with Shikamaru Chouji and Sasuke. He called them his friends!! AWW come on u know uve been waiting for it**

**OMFG I finally wrote why Naruto wont fight back! I kept changing it around to fit. At one point my idea was that he didn't fight cuz he was waiting for someone to stand up for him, I tried explaining it to someone and when I wrote it down I realized it sounded better in my head AKA-stupid. (Besides I like this reason more it fits his personality)**

**By the way sorry ive been slow with updates, just been a long month and honestly im tired. Im not saying im going to stop writing or put this on hold but I just gatta take my time and gets some rest. **

**But ya got to wonder…after insulting his family, threating to take him back to the orphanage and bring up the 'father'…why was the one thing Naruto reacted to was being called a fox?**

**See ya next chapter XP**

**Peace**

**sam**


	11. How to Vie

**Hey guys! Sorry for taking long I hope this makes up for it. **

**Im sorry to do this but I have to say im a little upset, after chapter 10 a few people used my ideas and words for their stories (to the two girls that already apologized thank you I really appreciate it). I love writing its fun and all but please do not steal my words, I worked hard in creating it and then seeing people steal its make me want to punch a bag of kittens..why kittens you ask i dont know but damn it im going to punch them**

**For the sake of kittens please leave any and all ideas of mine alone…THINK OF THE KITTENS!**

**I got a lot of happy reviews for writing mini-Naruto so I decided to write another, also Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs is an actual pyramid I learned in heath classes. **

**Special thanks to** **angstkitten (maybe thats why im thinking of kittens) for being my beta and sorry for taking so long but I have an excuse. My fingers are leading a revolt, I'm trying to write that chapter but my fingers are like 'We not getting paid, this is slavery, and well fuck you sam!' So after kidnapping their children they finally started typing again just for your pleasure (notice how my ego had grown so much that I cant even blame myself for a writer's block)**

**Chapter dedicated two things **

**1st to the strange weather we been having…. Globe warming my ass**

**2nd-oiroke: otoko no ko doushi no jutsu (double knock out guys)…….there is a god his name is Konohamaru

* * *

**

**Sticks and Stones**

**Chapter 11- How to vie**

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_No matter how serious life gets  
you still got to have that one person  
who you can be completely stupid with_

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_Three years ago_

If you are content with the world as it is now, then the future does not belong to you. This is a fact of life few are aware of for many people cling tightly on to their past hoping life will go on and they will never grow up, they are fools to believe change will never happen. But for people whose lives have hit rock bottom there is nothing to hope for except change.

Of course, some do more than hope.

They force change, demand it, want it to the point where they will risk everything for even a small difference. Because eventually you need to ask yourself, what would you do to make your most impossible dream come true?

This is exactly what a young boy of ten asked himself; which was why he was now crouching below an elementary school's window in the freezing cold during the month of January. The tiny boy clutched tightly onto a few papers before setting them carefully on the ground and started to build a mound of snow beneath the window that was half his size. He adjusted his goggles so that they rested on the bases of his forehead before digging his boots deep into the side of the mound and climbed up it using the brick wall as a balance. He nearly screamed in frustration when he realized despite his attempts he was still too small to see over the edge and into the classroom but he could hear a man's voice speaking. So while the little boy couldn't exactly see what was going on at least he could hear the man's voice which is exactly why he had taken the risk in the first place.

Inside the room Iruka was cleaning up the math problems written on the chalkboard, and the kids were chatting amongst themselves. Iruka clapped his hands to bring their full attention to the front of the room. He smiled and asked, "Who knows the food pyramid?"

All hands shot up and waved excessively. Iruka chuckled and then asked "Ok, who knows Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs pyramid?"

One by one the hands slowly lowered and the teacher chuckled lightly. "We're going to learn about another pyramid; there are more important factors then just having a physically active body, there are many physical factors involved such as your mind."

Outside the young boy blew on his hands to warm them up, he then raised himself on his tiptoes in hope that he had grown another inch or two in the last forty-two seconds. Alas he still could not see into the room, and cursed profoundly.

Back inside Iruka began to draw on the board a perfectly shaped pyramid, completely oblivious to the spy outside. He divided the pyramid into separate sections. "There are five needs every human must have in order to be emotionally healthy. They range from basic needs that you don't even realize to essential ones. The most basic need is physical, meaning food, water, shelter, and sleep." Next to the writing he drew little doodles of a hamburger inside a tent with little z's coming out of it mouth. The kids smiled as Iruka turned around to face them again. "But not everyone gets this simple need, there are many people who spend their days not knowing where they'll get their next meal or if they can find shelter for the night. I bet some of you have had a nightmare once in awhile and after that had a hard time falling back to sleep."

This was a signal for the kids to start whispering and chatting among themselves and Iruka patiently waited for them to calm down listening carefully as the kids recalled their worst nightmare. When a girl, after recalling her own dream mentioned that her mother came in afterwards to help her fall back sleep, Iruka eagerly jumped in to the conversation.

"Very good! That leads me to the next human need: safety. We all need a sense of security from danger and be comfortable in our surroundings, whether it's at school, home, or with our friends."

Back outside the boy stopped fidgeting and stood silently, listening to the man's words. He no longer attempted to see over the edge, for Iruka's voice and words captivated him. The words weaved a warm spell around him that was just as enchanting as it was dangerous.

He listened, completely absorbed, as Iruka continued to speak. "After that, everyone needs a sense of belonging. We all need to love and be loved by family and friends. People will constantly seek each other out trying to test the boundaries of being ourselves and getting people to like us. Without this social need, many people fall into depressions and anxieties."

The blond boy let out a startled gasp before quickly coving his mouth but no one noticed. He shut his blue eyes tightly and listened to the words rebounding in his head; this was hitting too close to his heart. If he stayed any longer he might risk being exposed but just the same he couldn't leave. Just a little bit longer, he kept telling himself. Just a little more then I'll go.

"Another need is to be recognized. You know those trophies and awards you get for sports and school? It's human nature to want to be acknowledged and appreciated. When we sense people respect us it raises our self-esteem and give us more confidence."

That was the last straw, the boy gazed upward at the window and narrowed his eyes. He couldn't stand it any longer, he had to see the man's face. Even if it was for only a second, that would be enough. The boy lowered his large strange goggles over his eyes, he shook off his worn gloves and spit into them. He backed up a few steps and with a grunt he ran towards his makeshift hill, Iruka's words filtered through the window.

"Last of all, the most essential need for all humans is to reach your potential."

The boy dig his toes into the bank and then launched his body at the windowsill, his fingers burned as he used the energy to pull his elbow onto the window frame. His legs kicked wildly and his grunts alerted the class of his presence but not before Iruka finished his lesson.

"Self actualization is a need of humans to make the most of their abilities and to strive to be the best they can."

Just as blond hair peeked over the edge, everyone turned to see a ten-year old boy trying to climb inside the classroom. The boy had enough time to glance over all the shocked faces and pointing fingers before he lost his grip and tumbled off the windowsill, and then fall awkwardly on the makeshift snow bank that roughly smacked against his back.

With a loud groan the boy opened his eyes and let out a startled yelp as he met two brown eyes towering over him with a concerned look. Finally able to see the man's face the boy was unable to look away from Iruka's tan skin. He took in the high ponytail and his eyes traced the off-colored scar that stretched across his nose. The boy broke from the spell when he realized the teacher was asking him something.

"Hey, are you ok?" Iruka leaned across the open window and extended his hand in order to help the strange boy up. The boy's face was half covered by his goggles, giving only a small idea of what laid beneath the eyewear, his blond hair was shined with grease, and his fingernails were disgustingly dirty. The young boy stared frighten at the hand coming towards him and scooted back out of it's range. He scrambled to his feet and, without a second glance, ran away from the kind eyes while slipping and sliding on the ice and snow. Iruka stared in awe as the boy reached the schools gate and continued to run. Where did he come from?

Iruka thought about reporting the strange incident to the principle but then he noticed that the boy had left his gloves and a few papers behind. With a grand swoop he leaned down and picked up the discarded items the boy had left during his hasty retreat. He scanned the paper surprised to see his own name, address, and other basic information. Iruka's eyes stopped towards the bottom at the final statement on the bottom where his name was connected to another, claming his legal ownership and responsibility over a child. Iruka's eyes grew hard and the paper crumpled in his hands, nearly shredding it to pieces. He looked back out the window and scanned the grounds in case the boy was hiding somewhere. Iruka had to swallow his anger and hate as the pain of his parent's death returned after nearly ten years.

A brave girl reached down and picked up the crumbled papers, and she read the same line that had caused her teacher to go into an unexpected rage. With naive eyes, she tugged on Iruka's shirt to get his attention and asked, "Hey! Who's Naruto Uzumaki?"

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_Three years later_

Naruto exited his fourth period class and watched the hallway fill with students who bumped, shuffled, and pushed each other. Moving like one being, the body of students generally shuffled towards the cafeteria. Everyone except him.

After the crowd had dispersed, Naruto stopped by his locker and gathered the lunch he packed that morning, taking his time to gather everything, but even after he had everything secured in his arms he made no move to leave. He was so lost in thought he didn't notice the dark haired boy silently creep up behind him, not until said boy slammed his locker closed with an alarming bang that made him jump out of his skin.

"Shit!" Naruto dropped his lunch bag in surprise and gawked at the boy smirking at him. His surprise gave way to anger. "What hell are you doing?"

Sasuke felt something strange well up in his throat as Naruto stared at him, not with blank indifference, but real passionate emotions. With a gentle shrug Sasuke leaned down, picked up the fallen brown bag, and glanced inside to see a healthy, yet slightly smooshed from the fall, packed lunch. "Good, you actually brought a sandwich."

He tucked the bag securely into his own arms and started walking down the empty hallway before stopping halfway and staring at Naruto pointedly. Without a second thought, Naruto raced after him. If it was to reclaim his stolen lunch or catch up with the boy, he wasn't sure, but he wanted to know.

"Hey, answer my question and give me back my food!" The boy practically dove into Sasuke's arms in order to retrieve his stolen lunch.

Sasuke allowed him to take back his lunch and fell in step with the other boy "I wanted to ask you something about the day you fought us." Naruto looked suspicious but nodded as if silently telling him he could continue. "Why did you do it?"

Naruto unconsciously began to quicken his pace and Sasuke has to break out in a trot to keep up with him, he quickly tried to reword his question. "I mean, it can't just be because you don't want to get in trouble because that wasn't the first time we cornered you from outside the school. So what was different about that day?"

That was the thought that had been bugging Sasuke all day, it was true they had mostly picked on Naruto during school hours but it wasn't uncommon for one of them to harass the boy right outside the school gates. The question seem to have caught Naruto by surprise he glanced over and studied the other boy with caution, Sasuke bravely met his eye. Finally Naruto scrunched up his nose and surprised Sasuke by smiling.

"Because you called me trash."

With that Naruto took off in a full-blown sprint down the hallway. Following his childish impulse, Sasuke raced to keep up with the boy as he sped down the hallway. Just before Naruto reached the cafeteria door's he turned around and back peddled at the same pace and realized the boy was not only following him but keeping up as well. With some relief Naruto flashed the boy an easy grin and hollered back.

"Hurry up slowpoke or I'll lock you in the girl's bathroom again!"

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For the next following weeks Naruto sat at his old table with his new friends. It had become a routine, though much to Naruto's protest, that Sasuke would meet him at his locker and then walk him to lunch.

The first day they arrived to see Chouji and Shikamaru already seated and waiting for their arrival. Naruto and Sasuke busted through the cafeteria doors, making such a ruckus that the entire cafeteria stopped eating and turned to see who was causing the commotion.

It wasn't until the whole room was deafeningly silent that Naruto finally stopped arguing with Sasuke on who won the race, and noticed everyone staring at them with a bewildered expression. Naruto face grew red and he quickly attempted to escape back out the doors but Sasuke managed to snatch his collar and haul him over to the table where he shoved him down in the empty seat and proceeded to glare at the student body until they turned away and broke into an uneasy chatter. It was only then that he directed his attention back to the table with two confused friends and one red faced blond who was fiddling with his zipper.

After getting over the initial shock, Chouji immediately pulled out a pre-made sandwich and happily handed it over. Naruto had blushed and mumbled under his breath something about eating just fine, but nonetheless took the sandwich and ate it along with his own lunch.

The first week was extremely awkward. Naruto would tense whenever one of them spoke directly to him and always seemed to be watching for an escape route in case they suddenly decided to change their minds and go back to shoving him in tiny, cramped lockers. In some way, Naruto thought it was kind of funny and kind of sad that, despite their attempts to be friendly, it just made him more suspicious. In the end he just couldn't trust them.

As the weeks went by they broke into a fairly simply routine; Shikamaru would occupy the seat next to Naruto for first and second period, although Naruto considered him to be a dull conversationalist since all he did was sleep. However, it was nice to have someone near him and not sit alone for an entire forty-five minutes.

When fourth period rolled around, Chouji would make small talk before math class. Which was fine, except sometimes Chouji would keep on talking even after everyone was settled in their seats and the teacher was trying to start, causing the teacher to yell at them and bring attention to Naruto. The normal attention Naruto thrived on from his family and audiences turned out to be a lot different from fifteen pairs of eyes turning around to look at you for the first time. The attention may have been unnerving, but Naruto learned to ignore it because he looked forward to talking to Chouji.

All these gestures were small, but friendly, making it hard for Naruto to dismiss them. However, while Shikamaru's and Chouji's indications of friendship seemed small and subtle, Sasuke has chosen a different root in getting Naruto's attention. Namely showing up everywhere and bugging the hell out of him.

It was bad enough that the boy seemed to have memorized Naruto class schedule and had taken it upon himself to escort Naruto to each room, but even worse, during class chicken-head would turn up to check on him with a fake messages from the teachers.

One time he even had the galls to lie and pretend the principle had asked him to bring Naruto up to the office. The blond boy was almost hysterical thinking Iruka or someone else in his family had been hurt. He had clung desperately onto Sasuke's shirt, demanding to know what was going on. When Sasuke oh-so-casually explained that he was bored and decided to skip class and felt Naruto should tag along with him, Naruto decided the best solution to cure Sasuke's boredom was to shove the boy into an open locker and leave him there until the period ended. It seemed the boy had learned his lesson, because he no longer felt the need to lie about fake messages, but he still managed to find Naruto between classes to annoy the blond.

Students would clamor and shove to get out of the way when Naruto and Sasuke walked the halls because usually they were either racing or trying to trip each other, without regard to innocent bystanders. Even though Naruto complained and yelled at the persistent bastard, in the end there was a tiny feeling of happiness that couldn't be logically explained.

So, despite his attempts to ignore them, Naruto found himself talking more and more inside school, and as a bonus the rest of the student body was unable to figure out what was going on between the boys. Naruto had to admit the lack of food in his hair and stains on his jacket were very appealing. At the same time, Naruto couldn't help restraining himself from getting too close.

It wasn't until the third week that Naruto actually sought one of them out.

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A loud bang much like a gunshot awoke Shikamaru from his daily nap. He groggily sat up, expecting to see his teacher yelling at him to stay awake during class. Instead, Naruto stood directly in front of him wearing a weary expression.

"I'm failing science." The words stumbled out quickly in a rush and the blond quickly averted his eyes but didn't move out of his way.

"Ok?" Shikamaru yawned and laid his head back in the crook of his arms fully prepared to fall back into a sleep wonderland, when Naruto's sad voice startled him.

"You said you'd help me."

Shikamaru lifted his heavy eyelids to watch as Naruto played idly with the textbook cover still not looking straight into the genius' eyes. Shikamaru flopped his head against the cold surface of the table and let out a long exaggerated sigh. "What a drag."

Naruto stiffened and held on tightly to the textbook. With a quick jerky motion he laughed and slid the textbook closer to him. "You know what? Never mind, I can do it myself." He started to pick up his textbook fully intending to stay as far away from the boy and find a nice lonely table and attempt to figure out the information on his own.

However Shikamaru had a different idea in mind. He placed a heavy hand on the textbook, knocking it out of the startled boy's fingers. Ignoring Naruto's protest, Shikamaru flipped though the large textbook and let his eyes skim over the page. Without looking up, he asked the stunned boy, "What chapter are you on?"

Naruto let out a long ragged breath and sat down next to the other boy, finally letting his muscles relax, and his lips curled in a smile. "Thanks."

The other boy didn't even look up from the book to reply "Shikamaru."

"Huh?" Naruto flinched and his smile dropped slightly. The boy didn't miss a beat as he flipped another page and re-memorized the budding system. "My name's Shikamaru."

Naruto stared at him before he buried his head in the crook of his arm to hide his soft smile, and he embarrassingly mumbled from the depths of his arms, "Thanks, Shikamaru."

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"So I'm defending this skinny anorexic kid, and I can tell I'm annoying the shit out of him because he hasn't been passed the ball all quarter." A tiny piece of breadcrumb flew out of Chouji's mouth as the boy wiped his lips with his sleeve.

As Naruto sat backwards on his chair, eagerly urging Chouji to continue, he took a huge bite on his second sandwich of the day, since Chouji's dad was still preparing him one. He was wearing a heavier version of his orange jacket, due to the cold weather. Even now, if one cared to look out the window they would see a steady pile of snow slowly climbing.

Shikamaru was leaning backwards in his chair, the front two legs were hanging dangerously in the air, and his eyes were closed, but a tiny smile on his lips indicated he was listening as well. And Sasuke? Well Sasuke was watching Naruto.

"Finally he yells, 'Fuck it!' and runs full blast with his arms outstretched like he's trying to push me. But the kid's so skinny he bounces off and falls down instead of me!" Naruto choked on the milk he was drinking and let out a bark of laughter so loud a few people from the table behind him turned around. No one had gotten used to the normally quiet boy being so loud and full of energy.

Sasuke pounded on the choking boy's back while grinning at Chouji's elaborate story, and also because some milk was dripping out of Naruto's nose. Naruto brought his sleeve up to wipe away the stray drops of milk but suddenly the loudspeakers clicked on, causing a low buzz to emerge from the speakers. Naruto paused in mid-wipe to glance upward as well as the rest of the lunchroom, and listened as a raspy voice spoke.

"May I please have your attention: due to the rapid increase of snow we have decided to close school early today at 11:30." Everyone broke out into a loud cheer, but they were drowned out by the eccentric blond's excited yell.

"Elementary schools will stay open to their regular times." But the kids disregarded this announcement and were talking about which house had the best video games. When Sasuke turned to ask Naruto what he was going to do, he was surprised to see the boy smiling up at the speakers with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Sasuke nudged him in the side to get his attention. "Hey, do you want to hang out?"

The glint in Naruto's eyes died a little as he stared at the three boys, still not ready to call them friends even in his own mind. Naruto looked away and seemed a little ashamed and sheepish.

"I can't. I already made plans."

Somehow the boys felt this statement was nothing but pure bullshit, seeing how the announcement was made only a few seconds ago and the boy hadn't talked to anyone in those spare seconds except for Sasuke, but they tried to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"The protest thing?" Chouji asked awkwardly, not wanting to offend the boy, but if the weather report was true then there probably wasn't going to be that many people out on the street anyway.

"No." Naruto quickly shook his head, his thoughts seemed to be elsewhere as the mischievous smile made its way back on his face "No, it's a secret mission."

The three boys glanced at each other, but said nothing. It had been a few weeks since Naruto had beaten the crap out of them, and during that time the three of them had found a rhythm and balance between each other. Something had changed after that day, without knowing how Naruto had managed to erase the frustration and rage they once felt at the world. But maybe it was pushing it, to ask to spend so much time with Naruto, just because he had helped them didn't necessary mean Naruto's life had become better because of their interference. Maybe Naruto just allowed them near in fear that if he didn't they would turn on him. Maybe he really hated them, didn't trust them, and couldn't stand to even sit next to them. Or maybe-

"Do you want to come?" Naruto's question instantly shut off the fountain of thoughts streaming through the three boy's heads.

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"You know, when you said mission somehow this really wasn't what I was thinking."

"SHH!" Naruto elbowed Sasuke in the chest causing him to ungracefully fall from his squat position onto the snow covered ground. He quickly sat back up, not wanting a frozen ass, and hovered behind Naruto's shoulder with Shikamaru and Chouji.

He childishly punched Naruto square in the back and retorted "Don't shush me, your shushes are louder then my talking!"

Naruto was about to respond them Chouji interrupted their banter "Um, Naruto, why are we at the elementary school?"

Indeed, they were currently crouched under a window frame of the school's elementary class. The school sat on top of a huge hill that descended quickly after the first drop. Naruto seemed unconcerned at the height as he grinned wickedly and pointed upward. Following his actions, the boys carefully peered over the bottom edge of the window into the classroom full of kids. To Shikamaru's horror a boy seated right next to the window spotted them immediately but instead of yelling he grinned and did a weird hand signal. Shikamaru turned to question Naruto but was surprised to see the blond boy making his own hand signal by placing his two pointer fingers together, to which the little boy nodded and whispered something to the girl next to him.

After a quick glance, Sasuke was able to identity the figure that stood in front of the classroom. Sasuke nudged the blond's side and reluctantly whispered, "Is that Iruka?" Naruto nodded absently and made another hand signal to the boy. "Then this is his class?" Another confirming nod from Naruto just made Sasuke even more irritated. "So what are we doing here again?"

"We're going to kidnap his class."

"WHAT!" Sasuke automatically shouted. Naruto quickly covered his mouth and pushed him down in the snow, he grabbed the other two boys by the scruff of their necks and pulled them down as well.

"Shh!"

"Don't shush me!" Sasuke mumbled since his mouth was currently pressed into the snow.

They fell silent, waiting for someone to discover them, but as the seconds ticked by it was obvious no one was coming. Feeling a bit brave, the boys slowly raised their heads and peeked over the window again. A boy was waving his hand in the air trying to get Iruka's attention, until the teacher acknowledged him. The boy asked a question to which Iruka looked surprised, with some reluctance he nodded causing the boy to jump up from his seat and open the window all the way in the back. With the window open, the four boys could hear perfectly inside the classroom.

"You're all sure you want the window open?" A chorus of 'yes's echoed the question, making the decision final. Iruka just shook his head and allowed the widow to stay open. "Well, I guess it is a little stuffy, but let me know when it gets too cold."

With that Iruka turned back to the blackboard and resumed the lesson. During all this the boy who had opened the window had not moved back to his seat; instead he stood quietly watching Iruka talk and fully aware that his classmates eyes were on him. With swift, calculated movements, the boy swung his feet over the edge and jumped into Naruto's awaiting hands.

Naruto staggered back from the weight but then gently brought the boy down to the ground, the two boys grinned at each other before Naruto bopped the kid over the head and silently pointed to the corner of the building. The boy nodded in understanding and then disappeared around the bend. When he reappeared, he was carrying a plastic sled tucked under his arm. He gave the boys a salute then plopped down on the sled and rode down the hill.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, but his question was halted when a second pair of feet shot out from the window and small boy with a dripping nose launched himself into Sasuke's unprepared arms. Sasuke stumbled back from the sudden weight and he stretched out a useless arm in order to maintain balance, but the world started to tilt as he came close to the edge of the hill. Suddenly, a hand shot out and laced itself into Sasuke's outreached fingers, and with a sharp tug he was pulled back from the dangerous drop onto more stable grounds.

The snotty kid quickly jumped out of his arms and raced to get his sled, completely oblivious to the fact he had been close to a rather painful fall just seconds before.

Sasuke opened his eyes to see Naruto out of breath with his fingers still linked with his. The raven boy wasn't sure, but it looked like all the color had drained from Naruto's face at that moment, but he didn't get a chance to look closely because Naruto suddenly tugged him closer and steadied him with his other hand so the boy wouldn't stumble.

Behind Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji had taken it upon themselves to catch the kids as they silently jumped out the window. So far they seemed to have "rescued" five kids already and the remainder were patiently waiting in their seats while their teacher droned on completely unaware that his students were slipping out one-by-one.

The kids moved in sync, like they had practiced it many times before. Each kid would wait until the teacher's back was turned and cover for the kid who was making the next escape. Then they would crawl on their bellies like ninjas to the open window, slid out into open arms, and then grab their sleds from behind the wall where they had left them after recess.

However, after they had sled down the hill they reverted back to childish impulses, throwing snowballs at each other. Naruto groaned and let go of Sasuke's hand to moved over to Shikamaru and Chouji, who were waiting for the next kid. Sasuke paused before tucking his hand in his pocket and following to where Naruto was angrily whispering at the boys. "Go tell them to be quiet down there!" Shikamaru and Chouji nodded and carefully made there way down the steep slop leaving Naruto and Sasuke to deal with the next kid to jump out.

"How many left, Moegi?" Naruto whispered to a cute girl with short red pigtails, she held up one finger she then grabbed her sled from Sasuke and quickly joined her friends at the bottom of the hill. Dutifully Sasuke went to grab the last sled and was surprised to find a shovel hidden underneath the plastic sled. Feeling a bit strange, he grabbed both items and dragged them along behind him. Just as he turned the corner, he heard a yell loud enough to penetrate the brick wall beside him. Sasuke quickly spotted Naruto with a "oh-shit" look on his face, staring up at the window while clutching the last kid in the classroom. The kid jumped out of Naruto's fear stricken arms and snatched his sled from Sasuke. No one could blame him: hell hath no fury like a pissed off teacher.

"NARUTO!" The blond boy looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Sasuke was unable to tell, but it seemed as if Iruka was getting closer and closer as the volume rose. "NARUTO, YOU BRING THEM BACK RIGHT NOW!"

Naruto snapped out of his daze long enough to spot Sasuke, he started pushing the boy down the hill to escape Iruka wrath, all while shouting, "CRAP! GO!! GO!!!"

In a moment of panic, Sasuke came to a halt unable to move his limbs forward. The hill was way too high to go running down; the fall would probably kill them. He turned to Naruto and yelled back. "THERE'S NO MORE SLEDS!"

Naruto quickly saw that he was right, Iruka was closer, now practically breathing on their necks. Having no other choice, Naruto ripped the shovel from Sasuke's fingers, he swung the snow shovel around, forced Sasuke to stand on the plastic shield, and held out the wooden pole.

"Oh hell no!" Sasuke stared at the pole in front of him and felt Naruto take one step on the back end of the sled behind him. Naruto wrapped a loose arm around his waist, but he was unable to think of anything besides the downward slope that loomed ahead of him.

Just as Iruka reached the edge of the windowsill Naruto pushed off with his right foot and clung tightly onto Sasuke. Having no other choice, Sasuke held onto his only means of balance and tried to steer them down the hill.

The shovel began slowly inching down the hill but as Sasuke and Naruto leaned back it began to pick up speed. Naruto's face was tucked deeply in Sasuke's shoulder with his lips just barely brushing the side of Sasuke's neck making it hard for him to focus on balancing. Slowly Naruto peeked out from behind Sasuke's shoulder and grinned.

"YA-HOO!" He yelled and threw up a clenched hand only to swiftly bring it back down to grab onto Sasuke's waist again when the sled started to wobble. As Sasuke began to gain more control over the makeshift sled, he felt the rush of excitement he had long forgotten; something as simple as riding down a hill had to be more exhilarating then any drugs in the world. As they came closer to the bottom of the hill, Sasuke found himself laughing and smiling with Naruto. This actually wasn't so bad, why had he been afraid in the first place?

Oh right. Because of the law and force behind gravity.

The ride was abruptly ended then the edge of the shovel hit a thick snow bank, causing the boys to be launched head over heels into the snow bank. Luckily the snow managed to break their fall. That, and probably pure dumb luck kept them from cracking their skulls open.

Naruto sat up a couple of feet away from Sasuke, clutching his head and moaning softly. "Ow, my head." Shifting a little, he reached over and poked Sasuke with an outstretched foot. Sasuke groaned and reluctantly sat up as well. Dear god, his ass hurt. He looked over to see Naruto already on his feet, bent over to scrub the snow out of his hair. When Naruto noticed him he gave him a bright smile. "Let's do that again!"

Very slowly Sasuke climbed to his feet and brushed some snow from his pants; he glanced back up to the classroom. "Maybe you should wait till Iruka calms down a bit."

Naruto's face went a bit pale when he saw the man half way out the window ready to run down there to check on their vital signs. Naruto waved and gave the fuming man the "ok" sign.

Back inside the building, Iruka let out a breath he had been holding. Yes, he was mad that Naruto stole his class yet again, but he more relieved then anything else. He scolded himself for losing track of them like that; he really needed to learn to turn around and face the class more often. Honestly though, they pulled it off in less than ten minutes! Well, maybe he could let it go just this once; after all, Naruto always made sure everyone was safe, and there wasn't that much time left in school anyhow. Besides, now he could relax a little and grade those tests he had been avoiding, just as Iruka settled in his chair the door opened and a man with messy silver poked his head inside the classroom.

"Kakashi?"

"Oh, hello Iruka! I was just stopping by to say hi, but, what's this? Did Naruto steal your class again?" Kakashi shut the door behind him with a certain glint in his eye. "Oh my, what are the chances?"

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As the two boys gathered their bearings, the kids took it upon themselves to start a snowman, using their combined strength to shovel the bottom half of the snowman and gather more snow. One kid looked up from the process and noticed that Naruto was waving upward at his teacher and there was another boy standing next to him. Actually he was standing a little too close to Naruto. The small boy tightened his scarf and bent down in a runners position: time to greet Naruto.

Suddenly a small form darted in between the two boys and elbowed Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke grunted and clutched his abused stomach. He looked up to see a small boy with overly large goggles beaming upward at Naruto "Boss! I knew you'd come!"

Naruto smiled and pulled the goggles upward to reveal the boy's chocolate eyes and stiff brown hair. "Hey Konohamaru!" It was like a plug had been pulled, and Sasuke could only gasp in horror as the tiny boy began to speak so rapidly it seemed as if the words were mussed together in a sticky mess. Naruto seemed to be keeping track of everything as he nodded along, but Sasuke could only catch a few words; something involving Iruka, a prank, and a naked girl centerfold. Whatever it was, Naruto seemed to be proud of the boy because he had a million watt grin on his face. The boy stopped enough to take a new breath of air before spinning around and pointing a finger at Sasuke's chest and glared intensely at him. "Who's this guy?"

Sasuke was about to glare back to defend himself when Konohamaru suddenly tumbled forward and landed face first on the ground. He turned around and saw Naruto packing another snowball and tossing it up in the air. "This 'guy' just rescued you from a long, boring lecture from Iruka, so be grateful."

The boy rubbed his head sorely where the snowball hit but nodded with sour, puckered lips. A small tug on Naruto's jacket made him look down and notice a girl with a tiny blush coating her cheeks standing by his side. Shyly she tugged on Naruto's jacket again and asked him in a quiet voice "What's his name?"

Naruto resist groaning, "No, Moegi, don't tell me you like the bastard! You're supposed to be the smart one!" He glared at Sasuke, who shrugged his shoulders helplessly; not his fault girls no older than ten fantasized over him.

But to their surprise Moegi shook her head. "Not him. Him!" They all looked to where the girl was pointing and gasped.

"What? You mean Chouji?"

She giggled and asked, "Can you ask him to help with the snowman? We can't lift the middle part."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but allowed the girl to pull him to Chouji, who was helping some kids build an igloo. Several of the kids had followed Shikamaru's example and were lying on the snow making angels; of course, Shikamaru was just really laying there, looking at the clouds.

Somewhere between helping Chouji lift the head onto the snowman's body and shoving snow down Sasuke's pants, Naruto had gotten the little kids riled up. Konohamaru was the one to announce that they would have a snowball fight, probably because he was still sore about getting hit by one earlier. It was decided automatically that it would be the fifth graders against the four older boys. Naruto, Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru glanced at each other with laughing eyes, and, without any hesitation, they agreed.

It was fifteen hyperactive fifth graders against the four boys. They never stood a chance.

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By then end of the hour all four boys were exhausted.

The kids had already taken off and gone home, leaving the boys passed out on the playground. They were too tired to take the snow that had been shoved down their pants and their backs were bruised where the kids had planned a multi tackle in order to bring them down.

The boys were embarrassed to admit it, but they actually planned to go light on the kids. Now they cursed themselves for giving those steroid-injected kids even a slight advantage.

Chouji moaned loudly, something about his back, but they ignored it in favor of their own aches and pains. Sasuke was curled in a fetal position clutching his face. He swore that Konohamaru kid had been aiming at his face every time, and now his entire face was red and swollen. During the fight, Shikamaru's brilliant strategy was to play dead on the battle field and hope the kids would get bored and just move on to the other boys. Turns out the kids had no quarrel hitting a dead target rather than moving ones.

Naruto just laid there, panting heavily, and he turned his head to glance at the three boys. Even if they were going home with a million bruises on their backs, it had definitely been worth it. It had been fun playing with them, trying to make strategies, yet still getting pummeled with snowballs. It'd been awhile since he had gotten out; life was much easier when it was filled with mind numbing kid's games where your problems were reduced to dodging snowballs. Naruto let his head flop back and he grinned up at the clouds passing over them. He could get use to having the three boys around.

The next day, Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru were not in school.

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**::Grins at readers::**

**heheh couldn't help it! I got so many WTF! comments on the weird ending in chapter 9 that I had to do it again. **

**On that note- Author will not be held responsible if readers injury themselves when reenact the sledding scene. But she strongly suggest going outside for some classic sledding fun...just find someone you can be completely stupid with and just have some fun mmkay? I hope this chapter was ok, I mean ive been trying not to rush things along but I like having some humor in here so I wrote the sled scene(plus I always had a secret dream when I was little that some cool older kid would kidnap me from school and just hang out with me). AndI want the boys to be slowly gaining Naruto's trust, so lets just call this the trust chapter mmkay?**

**Wanna hear some crazy shit? I took a astrology test for fun to find out who I was in my past life (I don't believe that crap but it looked fun) so I plug in all the information and guess what it told me……I was a nun/monk**

**WHAT THE FUCK! A nun? A god damn fucking nun? I am not a religious person, I mean I curse all the time plus I mean just look at me! I lie and cheat i've beaten the crap put of kids givein them bloody nose, broken fingers, black eyes, I even tried to drown a kid in a puddle …. How the hell was I a nun?!? And and and it gets worse! I was CELEBRANT! Meaning no sex!! Wait, oh crap that explains everything!! What? Don't hate me cuz im horny.**

**Peace**

**sam**


	12. Sausages vs Tacos

**Edited!-thanks angstkitten! Sorry for having a short attention span (don't look at me like that I was right she was on vacation!)**

**Please check out the newest fanart by s2kiss at deviantart(.) com(/) deviation /55020947/**

**Ok I get the message pple u guys are sexual deprived monsters that need some steamy hot sex scenes. See I wanted bonding between the boys cuz friendship means more to me then any crappy relationship ive ever been in. Nonetheless I shall grace u mortals with this chapter (do u see what happens when I get too many good reviews?!) It involves Naruto confessing his love to Sasuke/ Sasuke grabbing Naruto's ass/them alone in a bed/and Naruto licking Sasuke nose or Sasuke sniffing Naruto's tongue.**

**Hahah u guys have no idea how im going to screw around with those concepts!**

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**Sticks and Stones**

**Chapter 12- Sausages vs. Tacos**

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_Holding on to anger_

_Is like grasping a hot coal with the intent_

_Of throwing it at someone else;_

_You are the one who gets burned._

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Shikamaru was not in second period or third period, so Naruto sat alone.

Chouji was not in fourth period, so Naruto did his math alone.

Sasuke was not there between classes, so Naruto walked alone.

Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sasuke were not in the lunchroom, so when Naruto arrived, he ate alone.

There was no Shikamaru lightly snoring next to him, no Chouji with small, meaningless talk, no Sasuke stalking the hallways for him.

There was no one.

What a strange world we live in, where you can be alone but never feel lonely. The last three years spent at the school Naruto had never felt the need to seek anyone out, he was alone but it didn't bother him one bit. But now, for the first time, he actually had people to talk, fight, and laugh with.

All day long Naruto was uncomfortable, awkward, and fidgety. He couldn't stop looking around the room, half-hoping one of them would turn up. No one came.

The school day passed slowly, the minute hand stretching at an agonizingly slow pace. Each click of the second hand penetrated through the hallways' noisy chatter, through the teachers' long rants, through the silent moments of nothing.

Naruto rested his head on the folds of his arms and cursed softly, never had he felt so absolutely and completely alone.

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Jiraiya downed the rest of his drink before slamming it against the bar. He smacked his lips together and grinned wildly at his amused friends. "I'm telling you, it's foolproof! This will definitely determine Naruto's sexual preference!"

Everyone sighed and waited to hear Jiraiya's newest scheme that would finally prove once and for all that Naruto was straight. However, before the man could unleash his new idea among friends, a sudden slam of the front door and profound cursing brought everyone's attention away from Jiraiya. The drunken man jumped at seeing his opportunity. "Okay, here he is. Watch and be amazed!"

Naruto stormed in walking past everyone, ignoring their usual greetings and headed straight to the bar. He leaped over the counter and started looking though the random knickknacks Tsunade kept under there. The adults watched the boy warily, except for Jiraiya who used the bar counter to maneuver himself over. "Naruto, hey Naruto! What do you want for dinner, sausages or tacos?"

"Not right now, I'm busy!" The blond boy was pulling out random objects you normally won't find in a bar and tossing them on the counter. A growing pile of Chinese throwing stars, along with sharp knifes that didn't seem to be for cutting food. Tsunade glanced over the pile and realized she should get rid of those before the health inspector came by.

Naruto's blunt response did not cease Jiraiya's mission; he leaned across the bar counter to see the boy rummaging inside the cabinets. "No, just tell me which you like better! Tacos or sausages!"

All the adults strained their ears in order to hear the boy's mumbled response. "I don't care; whatever everyone else wants."

This did not please Jiraiya, not in the least. He leaned farther over the counter until he was hanging upside down and glaring at the distracted boy. "No, just choose subconsciously, whatever comes to mind first! Tacos or sausages!"

"Neither, I hate them both!"

Jiraiya leaned back with a confused look on his face and asked out loud, "Does that make him asexual?"

The others ignored Jiraiya and leaned over to see what Naruto had been searching for. He brought a yellow phonebook up onto the countertop and started flipping through it until he reached S. Naruto stopped and blinked before cursing at himself for being so stupid, of course the bastard's number wasn't going to be listed under his first name but the family name. "Dammit, what's his last name!"

"Uchiha."

"Ah, thanks Ibiki." He grinned at the man and slid a finger into the back of the book and flipped the pages. He began idly looking down the columns before pausing and looking back up at Ibiki. "Wait, how'd you know that?"

Everyone turned to stare at the man who answered back unhurriedly, "I did a background check on them."

The room was silent again as they stared at the apathetic man. Finally Naruto broke the silence by shouting, "You what!"

Ibiki seemed a bit shocked by Naruto's outburst. He scrunched his eyes together, not sure what he did wrong. "Just basic information for names, addresses, and criminal records."

Anko snorted and then burst into laughter. Ibiki turned to her, not understanding what was so funny, and Naruto rubbed his forehead "Okay, after this call we're having a long discussion about taking illegal advantage of your occupation, but until then no more talking."

Naruto ran his finger down the page until he landed on the right name; he grabbed the white corded phone hanging off the wall and quickly punched in the numbers. When he looked back up he was startled to see the entire room watching him. He gave them a nasty glare and they quickly looked away and resumed whatever activities they were doing before.

Asuma picked up the knives and throwing stars and thoughtfully glanced at the dartboard, before Iruka snatched them away and started lecturing him about being a role model. In other words, there would be no knife-throwing in the house; that is, except when Iruka wasn't home.

Naruto looked away from the adults and sat with a thump on the floor, the slow ring of the phone twisting his stomach into tight knots. Naruto rubbed his aching head with one hand and stared at the tiled floor. _"Damn it, how long does it take to answer a phone?"_

The phone clicked and a raspy voice answered. "Hello."

Naruto pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it.

"Hello?" The voice asked again, this time stretching the word out.

_"Stupid mouth, say something! Anything! Where's that great speech that took you all day to practice?"_

"Uhh…"

_'Nice. Good one loser. Way to start the conversation.'_

The voice on the other end sighed. "If this is some kind of joke, I'm hanging up right now."

"NO!" Naruto finally yelled causing the adults in the room to muffle their laughter, they all knew that the boy was horrible when it came to talking on the phone, but not this bad. The blond boy cleared his throat and tried again.

"It's, eh Naruto, it's me?" Naruto smacked himself in the head. '_Why the hell did I say that in question form? Okay now, concentrate, find out what you wanted to know and then hang up easy and simple.'_

"Where were you today?" Ahh, damn it, that didn't sound right! He was supposed to sound demanding and cold, not like a child who's toys been taken away!

"I'm sick," the voice answered before pulling away to cough. When it returned the boy sounded a little better. "So are Shikamaru and Chouji, I'm surprised you aren't."

With a blank stare Naruto set the phone down carefully and then slammed the back of his head against the bar, three times. The adults all looked up to see the commotion, but Naruto stopped and picked up the phone again.

"Are you ok?" Sasuke voice on the other end sounded confused and worried. Naruto tried not to focus on the thought that Sasuke was worried about him even though he was technically the one who was sick.

"Yeah! I just dropped something heavy…three times."

The line was silent.

Naruto fidgeted on the floor, too wrapped up that he didn't even notice that the adults in the room had long abandoned their activities and now were crouched on the other end of the bar, straining their ears to pick up on the boys' conversation.

Sasuke cleared his voice suddenly and carefully arranged the words he wanted to say. "You can come over and hang out."

Naruto's brain was blank for a moment not understanding what the boy was asking. After a second it clicked; he was being invited over for the first time. "What? Come over?"

There was a shift on the other end of the phone, Sasuke's voice lost its nervousness and grew strong with confidence "Yeah, it's Friday, right? I'm actually feeling a lot better, so come sleep over at my house."

On the other side of the bar the mature adults were silently fighting by pinching and shoving each other in order to get in the closest hearing range of the conversation. At the moment, Tsunade had the best advantage namely because she was in charge of everyone's alcohol rations so no one really wanted to fight her.

Of course Jiraiya had already drunk his fill for today, and possibly the next day, so he had no qualm about fighting Tsunade for a closer spot. "What are they saying?"

"Something about cumming. Now shut up."

Tsunade watched Jiraiya's face go unusually pale and mentally debated whether the man may need medical attention. However, since he became rather quiet she decided to return to listening to Naruto's conversation.

The boy was nodding despite the fact that Sasuke could not see him before realizing what he was doing and then eagerly responding to Sasuke's demand. "Yeah, sure, if you want me to. I'll come over in a little bit. Love you, bye."

Sasuke put the phone on the hook and started yawning and then froze. He stared at the phone in disbelief, wondering if he heard right. Just then the phone rang again. Sasuke hesitated before picking it up. Before he even put the phone against his ear a voice came screaming out. "I don't love you! That's a habit when I get off the phone with Iruka!"

The connection was broken and Sasuke was left staring at the phone, too shocked to hang up.

Back in The Jungle, Naruto was banging his head repetitively against the counter top, while the adults abandoned their post, watching the boy lose more brain cells with every smack against the counter, all while repeating the same word. "Stupid stupid stupid."

The adults sighed in relief when Naruto finally stopped banging his head to look up in disbelief at the phone, before resuming to banging his against the bar.

"Shit! I don't know the directions to his house, how the hell am I supposed to get there?"

Feeling the boy was brain damaged enough, Asuma grabbed his hair and stopped the boy from hitting his head again.

Naruto's head dangled above the counter but refusing to met his family's eyes, knowing they were probably laughing at him. "I am not calling back a third time!"

Fortunately, one member of the grown ups took pity on him and pulled the dejected boy out of Asuma's grip and steered him towards the door. "I'll drive you."

Even knowing the man was much stronger then him, Naruto still resisted as he crossed his arms across his chest and pouted. "Haven't you been listening? I don't know how to get there!"

As he pushed the boy closer to the exit, Ibiki's stone face cracked very slightly into what only his close friends knew was his version of a warm smile. "Yes, but I do."

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Sasuke slapped his cheek trying to keep himself awake. Several times since Naruto's call he had drifted in and out of the land of nod. He propped his pillows in awkward positions hoping to make them as uncomfortable as possible but could still feel his eyes slowly lowering, and he settled into his bed and with a deep sigh.

So it was a bit of a surprise when his pillow was abruptly snatched from under his head and then smashed against his face.

Before he could even panic the pillow was lifted and he was greeted with Naruto's bright smile. Sasuke shoved him away scowling, but Naruto just laughed and took half a step back to keep out the boy's hitting range. Of course, that didn't stop Sasuke from trying to launch the pillow at him.

"I never heard the doorbell ring."

Naruto dodged the hit "Didn't use the door, I came in through the window."

Sasuke reached behind and grabbed another pillow to throw at the cheerful boy. "Can't you be normal and use doors like everybody else?"

"Doors are for people with no imagination!" Again Naruto ducked the flying pillow of doom. "Besides I thought if I used the doorbell I'd wake you up or something."

Sasuke paused and looked at the boy before climbing out of his bed and launching a full-out assault on the poor defenseless boy. "So it's okay to smother me with my own pillow but not okay to use the doorbell?"

Naruto threw up his hands as a feeble defense. Sasuke paused and realized Naruto had something clenched tightly in one hand "What's that?"

Naruto glanced down and suddenly remembered he brought the package and tossed it to Sasuke. The boy caught it with ease and, recognizing the package of instant ramen, he looked up skeptically at Naruto.

"Tsunade said when friends get sick you're supposed to bring them soup." Naruto looked away and blushed before uneasily scratching his scared cheek. "But now that I think of it she never does that for Jiraiya, she just hides his porn."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his blushing friend before smirking slightly and then pretending to look over the nutrition facts all while tutting under his breath. "Dobe, ramen's not healthy for a sick person."

Naruto sputtered, completely flabbergasted that someone would dare insult his precious ramen, especially since he had so generously brought it over. "What? But it has no trans-fat!"

He attempted to take back the noodles, but Sasuke held it way over his head with a smirk; he knew this was Naruto's way of extending a hand of friendship, and he'd be damned if he let Naruto try to take it back now.

Sasuke grinned when Naruto started jumping up and down to reach the gift. He leaned over and breathed directly into Naruto's face, causing the boy to wince at the sour smell. "You shouldn't get close, I'll get you sick."

Naruto's face broke into a wide grin that surprised Sasuke. The blond boy poked him in the chest and gloated. "Ha, you can't trick me! I don't get sick that easily, it's almost impossible."

"Why is that?"

Naruto ceased jumping when he heard the seriousness portrayed in Sasuke's voice. He hesitated a little before smiling again and answered brightly, "When I was born I got a bad infection, and it almost killed me."

Sasuke stared at the grinning boy, not sure about this sudden outburst or what it had to do with Naruto never being sick.

Naruto realized he was making a fool of himself and blushed a bit before scratching his head. "Tsunade always explains it better, but I guess the basic understanding is that my white blood cells had to work twice as hard to keep me alive after the infection. So they were pretty strong when I was a baby and I guess as I grew they continued to get even stronger."

Sasuke stared at the boy who was still beaming. With a frown he narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly. "An infection."

"Yep!"

"When you were little."

"Right-o!"

Sasuke finally sighed and accepted the fact that Naruto fit into his own special category. "There's nothing normal about you, is there?"

This only seemed to please Naruto. "Give the bastard a prize, he answered correctly! Damn, and here I thought Shikamaru was the smart one."

Tiny clicks of the door stopped Sasuke from responding as both boys glanced up to see his bedroom door slide open to reveal a silent figure.

A tall, slim man stood within the doorway, his dark eyes felt like a heavy weight pushing down on whomever they landed on, and in most cases that person was Sasuke. With cold eyes and a tight, stiff lip the man seemed mature beyond his years and somehow, just by walking in the room, the man could always make Sasuke feel smaller, less significant, and worthless all at once.

"Itachi." Sasuke self-consciously took a step back from Naruto as his brother glanced between the two boys and then finally seemed to settle on Naruto.

"I'm leaving for the night." Though he spoke to Sasuke his eyes never left Naruto. Sasuke could feel the blond boy shift uncomfortably under the cold gaze.

Sasuke didn't have to be a mind reader; he already knew exactly what Itachi was thinking. He watched his brother examine Naruto, starting at his scuffed up sneakers with green grass stains and frayed laces. Farther up the color of Naruto's jeans was fading, his shirt was wrinkled, and his hair looked wild and untamed.

Itachi finally finished his examination and ignored Naruto's presence as he spoke to Sasuke in a patronizing tone. "I think it's wise to remember, little brother, that you should be careful when choosing friends. They may become a negative reflection when more notable people view you." Naruto stared at the man with disbelief and watched him open the door to leave. Just before he stepped out, Itachi turned back and stared coldly at Sasuke. "Just something to think about."

Neither boy moved from their spot as they stared at the door, not able to believe what they had just heard. Sasuke's stomach cramped up painfully and he wondered if he was getting sick again. He bit his lip and turned back to Naruto, trying to come up with the right words that would fix this.

"Okay, well now I'm pissed off." Of course Naruto always did have a way with words.

Sasuke was surprised when Naruto's voice held no malice or anger, but instead he sounded at ease, which only made Sasuke more worried. "Don't listen to him, he's an asshole."

"Ahh, it runs in the family." Naruto nodded as if the world suddenly made sense. He wandered over to the window and watched as Itachi walked down the driveway and towards his car, Naruto proudly gave him the one-finger-salute and yelled "That's right older bastard, keep walking!"

Sasuke hesitated before he joined the boy and watched his brother climb in his car. "I don't think he can hear you through the glass."

"That's kind of the point."

They watched Itachi drive off until his car was nothing more then a spec in the distance, when Naruto finally broke the tension between them. "Okay, enough of that! Come on, up and at 'em!"

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist and started pulling him towards the door, making the boy stumble to keep up with him. "W-what? Where are we going?"

"This means war, Uchiha! To the kitchen!" He pushed Sasuke in front of him, forcing the boy to lead him towards the destination, and Sasuke decided it was best not to ask.

As soon they came within range of the kitchen, Naruto broke away and dove into the refrigerator. Sasuke watched him, slightly amused. "If you want food, you could have asked. It's not like I was going to starve you."

Naruto pulled his head out of the refrigerator and glared impatiently. "Shut up, dude! I'm not eating; I'm devising an evil, immoral scheme!" He stuck his head back inside to rummaged around, and gave a sudden cry of joy. "Sweet, you have tiny ketchup packets!"

"Your evil scheme involves tiny ketchup packets."

Naruto's eyes turned into tiny slits as he grinned at the other boy. "Yes, and salt if you have any." He turned back to rummage the shelves and spotted something in the far corner. "Ah-ha, cream cheese, perfect!"

He carefully placed these items on the kitchen table and asked very politely, "Where do you keep the salt?"

Sasuke was beginning to grow suspicious of the boy's behavior, but pointed above the sink and answered warily, "Top self."

Naruto grabbed a chair and climbed up to reach his desired object. Sasuke was about to protest, seeing as the chair was unbalanced and wobbly, but Naruto quickly shushed him. "Don't worry, I got it!"

Just as his fingers closed around the container of salt, the chair tipped causing Naruto lose his balance and fall backwards. "Whoa!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke automatically reached up to hold the boy tightly so he won't hurt himself.

Both boys froze not daring to move. Finally Naruto turned slightly to squint down at Sasuke and asked, "Did you just grab my ass?"

"NO!" Sasuke yelled loudly and shut his eyes, not wanting to see where his hands had landed in this terrible turn of events.

"Okay, can you let go of my ass then?" Sasuke's blush intensified as he realized that closing his eyes did not mean his hands had retreated. He quickly released Naruto's butt he had been squeezing and took a step back so Naruto could step down from the chair.

Naruto coughed awkwardly when Sasuke refused to meet his eye. Maybe he was new to this whole friendship thing, but in order to fulfill his master plan he needed Sasuke's corporation, and damn it he needed Sasuke to stop blushing because it was making him blush too!

Naruto scooped up the items he had picked out and softly kicked Sasuke in the shins to get his attention. When the boy looked up with an ashamed look Naruto quickly reassured him with a smile. "Step two: Your brother's bathroom."

Sasuke nodded, happy to be distracted, and led his friend to his brother's private bathroom. Naruto shut the door behind them and turned around with an evil smile. For a second Sasuke panicked, thinking that perhaps the boy was going to take revenge on him by sticking his head down the toilet. He was relieved to see Naruto ignore him for the moment and focus all his attention on the three items he had brought from the kitchen.

Naruto plucked Itachi's toothbrush from its holder and placed it carefully so the bristles were delicately hanging by a mere edge on top of the sink. Naruto uncapped the salt and took a small pinch, he glanced over at Sasuke to see if he was watching "You see, we take the salt and go …BAM!" Naruto threw a pinch of salt on the toothbrush and then replaced it in its holders.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, wondering what the poor boy was doing. He watched Naruto move over to the toilet with a small ketchup packet in his hands. Using his teeth Naruto tore a small hole in the packet. He then lifted the seat to the toilet and laid the ketchup packet in the very corner so the open part was directly above the opening of the bowl.

With gentle ease, Naruto replaced the cover of the seat and gave a shout of joy when no ketchup squirted out.

Sasuke had finally had enough. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's called sweet, sweet revenge, my friend."

"With salt and ketchup?"

"Hey, I was a little short on supplies, and obviously they need to be small pranks or your brother will automatically know it was you." Naruto crossed his arms and nodded in an assuring manner. "So I'm doing tiny things like making him gag when he tastes the salt on his toothbrush and having a tiny moment of hysteria when he sits on the toilet and thinks he's shitting blood."

Sasuke's eyes widened, unable to hide the smile that crept on his face at the image of Itachi staring, horrified, down into the toilet bowl.

Sasuke's smile only seemed to encourage Naruto, and as he passed the last item to Sasuke, he grinned wildly. "And last of all we take Mr. Cream Cheese." Naruto checked the drawers and pulled out a deodorant bar, he opened the bottle and indicated that Sasuke should open his container as well.

Naruto lightly scrapped some cream cheese from the container and smeared it on top of the deodorant. To Sasuke's amazement, the combination of food and hygiene product blended perfectly, making it impossible to see the difference.

Sasuke quickly joined Naruto in coating the deodorant lightly with cream cheese while trying to contain a strange giggle threatening to erupt from his tummy. Seemly satisfied, Naruto replaced the cap on the deodorant and carefully replaced it in its original position.

Sasuke found himself mimicking the boy's silent movements as they crept back downstairs and put all the items back, and then silently climbed the stairs, even though no one was home.

When they reached Sasuke's door, it was like a bomb had gone off. Both boys raced inside and slammed the door behind them. Sasuke collapse on his bed but Naruto leaned against his desk panting heavily with a smirk on his lips that eventually turned into a real smile, followed with laughter. Sasuke felt his own lips twitch in a smile and started to snicker as well as he watched the contagious grin grow on his friend. When they had calmed down enough, they looked up at each other and started laughing all over again.

When Sasuke caught his second wind, he looked over to see Naruto fiddling around with some of his earrings and piercing. Naruto examined one loop with interest and then stuck it on his tongue. He turned around and gave Sasuke a Gene Simmons impersonation.

"What do you think?"

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked. "You know, that's a nose ring not a tongue ring, right?"

Naruto quickly pulled out the piercing and held it out at arm length. "Ewww! Does that mean you sniffed my tongue or I licked your nose?"

"Moron," Sasuke chuckled as the boy wiped his tongue repetitively. Naruto glared at the boy before ripping the pillow from beneath Sasuke's head and laid it gently on the floor making sure to fluff it up a bit. He then proceeded to flop on the ground while tossing Sasuke the middle finger.

Sasuke leaned over the edge of his bed and stared down at the boy. "What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep, unless there's some sleepover rule I'm not aware of." Sasuke glanced at the clock and saw it was getting late; he looked back down to see Naruto shift into a more comfortable position.

"You know, there's enough room up here."

Naruto opened one eye before scrunching up his nose. "Hell no, I haven't slept on a bed since," Naruto paused to think about it before settling on, "a long, long time ago, and there's no way I'm going to start now, so goodnight."

Naruto rolled over, feeling the conversation was done, but Sasuke was far from satisfied. "Do you really hate beds that much?"

Naruto groaned out loud. "Dude, I need you to stop trying to seducing me into your bed."

Sasuke reached down and plucked the pillow from under Naruto's head, letting the boy's forehead hit the carpet with a thud. Naruto sat up with a scowl and was about to start protesting when Sasuke spoke again. "I'm not letting my guest be treated like a dog."

Naruto tilted his head and looked upward in the determined of Uchiha and regarded him with blank eyes.

"Actually it's a fox, thank you very much," Naruto stated before climbing up on the bed and under the covers without another word.

They were silent for the first ten minutes as Naruto tried to find a comfortable position and Sasuke tried to avoid their legs from touching as much as possible. Sasuke watched the boy and was amazed at how his scars seemed to grow in the dark, giving him a more feral look. Naruto finally gave up and flopped on his stomach looking at Sasuke, anger clearly blaming the boy for his discomfort.

Sasuke ignored the blazing glare that was even more intimidating in the dark, and settled deeper into his own pillow; only then did he speak. "I was just thinking, do you remember about two years when someone put laundry detergent on the boy's shower room floor?" Naruto instantly stiffened but then quickly tried to relax; a tiny smirk crawled onto Sasuke's face as he continued. "Everyone ran in without noticing and went sliding out of control, and then crashed into the wall."

Naruto remained silent, but was quietly biting his lip. Sasuke took this as a sign to continue his assumptions. "There was this other time where someone poured blue dye in the school's pool and no one noticed until they stepped out covered from head to toe in blue."

Naruto grumbled and turned so he was facing away from Sasuke. "Go to sleep, bastard."

Sasuke smiled and leaned back farther into his pillow. Feeling the exhaustion from today's events finally catching up to him, he yawned and turned sideways, letting his last moments of the conscious world be Naruto's wild, untamed hair.

Naruto on the other hand was silently cursing the bed for its soft comforter. After sleeping on the floor for most of his life, this was a bad transition. Naruto gritted his teeth and stole a glance at the sleeping boy.

There was no way in hell he could spend an entire night on this ridiculous feather soft bed, next to sleeping beauty.

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When Sasuke awoke in the middle of the night feeling strangely cold, he glanced over at the clock to see it was early morning. He yawned and wrapped his arms around his body to conserve heat. Where was his god damn blanket?

Sasuke's eyes snapped open again as he realized something even more important; where did Naruto go?

"Naruto?" Sasuke whispered glancing around the room.

"Naruto?"

"Naruto, where the hell did you go?" Sasuke swung his feet over the edge of the bed and noticed his blanket had mysteriously gotten under the bed, well one mystery solved but that didn't explain the missing dobe.

He tried pulling the blanket out, but was surprised to find it stuck. He pulled again and almost fell over when the blanket was tugged from his own hands and then disappeared under the depths of the bed.

Sasuke choked down a yell before kneeling down to the eye level of the bed before peering under it. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

Tucked securely in the center of the bed laid a large cocoon in Sasuke's blanket, with a tiny tuft of blond hair peeking out from the end.

"God damn, how the hell did you even get under here?" Sasuke reached to retrieve his stolen blanket but the sleeping boy only mumbled deeply and wrapped it tighter around his body.

Sasuke was forced to flatten his body to the carpet and crawl towards the sleeping bundle. He scrunched up his nose and tried not to sneeze when his face was struck by a cloud of dust.

He finally reached the snoring boy and started roughly shaking him out of a pleasant dream. Naruto opened one eye and then closed it again, mumbling something under his breath. Sasuke growled and was about to shake him again when Naruto shifted and opened a slit in his cocoon blanket. A hand shot out and dragged a bewildered Sasuke into the giant folds of the quilt. The same hand wrapped around Sasuke's waist, hugging him closer and taking in his warmth. Sasuke struggled against the hold, but found it impossible to escape due to the low bed and the layers of blanket that immobilized his arms.

Naruto opened his eyes again to see a very pissed off Sasuke only a few inches away from him. Instead of freaking out, Naruto just closed his eyes apparently ready to fall back asleep. That's why Sasuke was shocked when the boy started to talk in a very relaxed and sleepy tone. "I have a friend, a friendly friend who's not very friendly, but he's my friend."

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply to the weird statement, but a swarm of dust particles launched an attack on his exposed throat, causing him to start coughing.

Naruto frowned as he felt the vibration of the coughs and without opening his eyes spoke again. "You need to get better now."

Sasuke managed to control his coughing fit and glared at the careless boy. "It doesn't work like that dobe; I can't just make myself well again."

Sasuke blushed as the boy pulled him closer so their foreheads were slightly touching. He could feel rise and fall of Naruto chest, brushing his own unstable chest, as well as the warm air that passed over his lips when Naruto answered back. "Well you're going to have to because I don't like being alone anymore."

With that Naruto fell back into a deep sleep, leaving Sasuke with a bright red face and very confused. He tried to shift out of Naruto's hold and managed to roll away from facing Naruto and onto his back. But the disruption of Naruto's sleep caused the boy to growl angrily and pinch Sasuke's back skin. He also wrapped a leg around Sasuke's, making him even more immobilized then he was before.

Sasuke finally gave up as warm feet pushed against his cold ones and he felt Naruto's shallow breath against his cheek. His eyes fluttered shut knowing he was going to have a lot to explain in the morning.

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Sasuke woke up a second time, very confused as to why he was so warm and why the ceiling had been drastically lowered. He closed his eyes and tried to settle back into the unusual warmth; however, someone seemed determined to ruin Sasuke's tiny slice of heaven. A tiny ray of light hit him directly in the face, and the heavy scent of cigarettes crawled into Sasuke nose as voice called out to him. "You alive under there?"

Sasuke reopened his eyes and stared at a slightly familiar face grinning at him. He sorted through his memories and finally placed the face with the name Asuma. Feeling satisfied Sasuke began to close his eyes again, before bolting upward and slamming his face into the metal board of his bed.

A voice grumbled behind him and dragged him deeper into the covers. Sasuke was too frightened to turn around, afraid at what he might see, and instead he looked forward towards the light and the laughing eyes of Asuma.

"He's got a pretty good hold on you." The man grinned slyly, chuckled at the boy's obvious embarrassment, and decided to end the boy's suffering and help him out. "How's this going to work?" He assessed the situation and, taking in Sasuke's mortified face and Naruto's unbreakable hold, he finally decided on the easiest option. "Okay kid, how bout you hold on tight to Naruto, and I'll pull you both out."

Asuma gripped Sasuke's closest limb, which happened to be his leg, and Sasuke wrapped his arms tightly around Naruto, who sighed in delight and snuggled deeper into the blanket.

"Heave-ho!" With incredible strength Asuma began to pull both boys out, despite Naruto's sleepy attempts to pull Sasuke back in the tug-of-war. Sasuke automatically released Naruto as soon as they were out and scooted away. Naruto grumbled but then curled up on the floor and continued to snooze.

Asuma shook Naruto's shoulder and chuckled when they boy made some unintelligible noise and settled deeper into his slumber.

"This kid never changes." Sasuke couldn't help but notice the pride in the man's voice as he ruffled Naruto's mussed hair.

Sasuke stared down and once again noticed the tiny lines running across Naruto's face. When you really looked at them, they really did make him look like a fox. Maybe that's why he decided to grill the man about a question that's been plaguing his head for a while. "Why does Naruto hate foxes?"

Asuma stiffened and regarded the boy with cautious curiosity. "Who told you that?"

Sasuke responded calmly trying not to show how excited he was to finally be getting some answers. "That guy Ebisu; he called Naruto a fox and then Naruto freaked out."

"Don't ever call him that." Asuma's voice was harsh and he looked steadily into Sasuke's eyes. The boy finally looked away, not able to hold the man's intense gaze, and instead he opted to stare at Naruto who was still sleeping, peacefully unaware of the tension growing above him.

Asuma's eyes darted between Sasuke and Naruto, and abruptly decided to change his vote in Tsunade's bet. He had originally been betting on Shikamaru, but you can't always get what you want. For now at least he could give the confused boy some tips and at the same time get a slight advantage when he switched his vote over to Sasuke.

Asuma drew a cigarette from his pack and placed it in his mouth, but didn't light it because it would have been rude. He folded his legs Indian-style and sighed deeply, knowing this would bring up a painful memory.

"Names are pretty painful, especially when you start to believe in them, but that word is the most painful burden Naruto has to carry, not only because he somewhat believes in it, but other stupid people do as well." Asuma paused and gave a humorless smile. "That included me as well for a long time.

"I wasn't the same person when I first met Naruto, I didn't know him as anything except as a fox demon." Sasuke stopped himself from asking what Asuma meant by 'fox demon' in fear the man might stop talking if he did.

"You know, my son was born the same day as Naruto, same hospital, too, but the difference is my son never left the hospital." Asuma's voice grew heavier and he was no longer looking at Sasuke, but down at Naruto's sleeping form. While the man was distracted Sasuke glanced at Asuma's hand and noticed he didn't have a wedding ring on.

As Asuma withdrew from his memories, the cigarette between his lips was being lightly chewed on as he sucked the nicotine from the paper. "Even though we look nothing alike I like to pretend I'm somewhat responsible for raising him, it makes me feel that my son never really died that day."

Asuma stopped and then looked up at Sasuke. "Not that I blame Naruto, of course!"

Sasuke said nothing, but removed his eyes from Asuma to stare down at Naruto. The man ran a hand through his hair, not knowing where to go from there; he had gone so far off topic. Betting aside, he really did want Naruto to find solace in one of these boys, even if it was for friendship.

He sighed again, realizing Naruto had to be the one to decide. Knowing that, Asuma stood up feeling the creaks of his old bones and with gentle hands he lifted Naruto from the floor and carefully maneuvered the boy so he was hanging off his back. The boy grumbled a bit but held on tightly to Asuma's neck and rested his head against the man's broad shoulder.

To his credit, Sasuke didn't complain when the man completely ignored the door and decided to use the window as an exit. He watched Naruto disappear from his room and be carried off to the parked car that automatically opened up and several hands reached out and carefully drew Naruto in without waking him up.

Watching them drive away Sasuke regretted not asking the new question that had replaced the old one.

Why would he blame Naruto?

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_Three years ago _

Kakashi was not the sort of man to take revenge.

Blame it on watching too many sappy movies where the final moments involve the evil villain having a moment of enlightenment and realizes that no matter how many people he kills it won't bring back his wife, child, father, etc.

A grudge, however, now that was something else altogether.

His mother thought he had gone crazy when, at the age of twelve, he locked himself inside his room for five days straight mending together broken goggles. During that period of time he would carefully align the broken shards of glass and glue them together so it was impossible to tell they had been crushed in the accident.

He thought it would be worth it in the end when he placed those carefully reassembled goggles next to his friend's grave marker. He thought it would bring closure, giving the sense that the boy was in a better place, one where there was no pain.

But when he stared at the goggles sitting delicately on top of the grave marker, it looked so out of place that he started to laugh. A loud belly-wrenching laugh that shook his entire being as tears poured out of his remaining eye, the other one was covered in a patch that made him resemble a pirate. That only made him laugh harder knowing his friend would have gotten a kick out of it.

He was escorted out of the funeral by relatives of the deceased and asked not to return until he could control himself. He complied with their request and decided to never return again. That is, until he met Iruka.

The first person that didn't flinch when he showed the scar on his eye that he hid from the world. Iruka never apologized when he told him about his friend's death, only asked for Kakashi to describe the boy, to which Kakashi did in great lengths.

Explained how during their time together he did not consider the boy his friend at all, how he had been roped in by his mother to have a walking buddy to school for safety, see how well that had ended?

How he detested the boy's loud manners and disregard for personal space. And no matter what, the boy would always arrive late to their meeting spot with some lame excuse, like helping an old lady with directions or getting lost on the road of life.

Iruka had snorted at this statement and Kakashi found himself smiling as he dove deeper into the memories and slowly the faded picture of his friend grew clearer.

He suddenly remember the orange and black jacket the boy loved to wear, and the dark color of his hair that always seemed unkempt and wild. But it was the goggles; Kakashi remembered the goggles the best.

He spoke about how the boy could cry at the smallest things and how at the time Kakashi would shun him or make a cruel remark calling him a crybaby or wuss.

But the boy was persistent and no matter what Kakashi threw at him, he always bounced back with a smile.

Iruka asked if he could visit his friend's grave, and Kakashi agreed because it was hard to say no to him, especially when Iruka mentioned his parents were buried in the same graveyard.

When they reached the boys grave marker, Kakashi's body went cold when he realized that the goggles that his friend had cherished, the ones he had spent hours mending into perfection were gone. The goggles were gone.

Once again the same bubbling feeling of laughter escaped from his throat. At least this time he wasn't sent away for not being able to control himself. At least this time Iruka was there to pull him into a tight hug and say it was ok.

After that, Iruka became his best friend, actually his first one since the death of the boy. He loved being near the man and would do anything if it would make Iruka smile; everything, that is, except agree to meet Naruto.

Kakashi didn't want to talk to the monster, didn't want to be proven wrong about his assumptions, and most of all didn't want to give up his grudge.

Even when Iruka insisted that the boy wasn't the monster he had created in his mind, Kakashi knew Iruka was too kind-hearted to really hate someone. The boy had probably manipulated the compassionate teacher into thinking he was some angel but Kakashi knew better.

Iruka informed him that the boy snuck out almost every day and waited for Iruka's lessons to finish so he could talk to him, even if it was only for a few measly minutes. Iruka hinted that if Kakashi ever wanted to meet the boy he should come early to sit and chat.

Finally giving into Iruka's subliminal request, he walked into the schoolyard an hour before the kids were released and waited for the boy to arrive. It only took six minutes for the boy to come running down the entranceway towards his waiting spot, only to find it occupied by a bizarre-looking adult.

When the boy came trotting over, wary of the stranger, Kakashi was paralyzed in his seat- sometimes lost items have a way for showing up in the strangest of places, like on top of a blond's head.

Kakashi couldn't look away from the old goggles sitting on the freak's head. He knew it was the same ones, the exact pair he had placed on top of the grave that day so many years ago.

Not saying a word Kakashi reached down and plucked the ridiculous goggles from the monstrosity's greasy hair. He half expected them to fall apart in his hands, just like that day, but to his amazement they stayed intact.

What he did not expect was for the boy to put up a fight for them back.

The boy took a flying leap, trying to retrieve his headgear, only to miss when Kakashi moved away at the last second. "Who the hell do you think you are? Give them back!"

Kakashi glared down at the orphan and held the goggles higher above his head. "They're not yours."

Naruto held on tight to Kakashi's elbow and pushed himself up on his tiptoes, straining to reach them. "Well, they're not yours either!"

Kakashi shoved the boy away from him, hating the feeling of their skin even touching. "You stole them, you're a thief."

Naruto fell heavily to the ground and scrambled back up with a determined look in his eye "Yeah, well you stole them from me, so if I'm a thief that makes you one too!"

Kakashi tensed up as he looked down at the boy. How dare he compare them? How dare he say they were anything alike! Kakashi wanted nothing more then to pull down his mask so he could properly spit in the boy's face.

"Do you know who these really belong to?" Kakashi grabbed the boy by the collar, no longer disgusted by the thought of touching the monster, in fact punching the boy until his face was covered in bruises seemed like a delightful idea. Closing his fist tightly he raised it up highly glad to see a sudden spark of fear in the boy's eyes, who was staring straight at the closed fist. "Do you know who these really belong to!"

"Obito, his name is Obito! Please don't break them!"

The name caused Kakashi to freeze; Obito.

Obito with his sarcastic comebacks.

Obito who wasn't afraid of Kakashi, despite his disease.

Obito who had saved Kakashi's life in favor of his own.

"Please be careful! They're really fragile." The voice brought Kakashi out of his memories, he looked at his clenched fist and realized the goggles were tightly incased in his closed hand. He abruptly let go of both Naruto and the goggles, and watched them fall together.

It was then that he really took a better look at the boy he had hated for the last ten years.

He was dressed in a loud orange and black coat. Kakashi blinked as his thoughts traveled back to Obito's favorite jacket. No matter what the weather may have been, the boy loved to wear that jacket.

The blond's greasy hair had become wild during their fight and was sticking out in odd directions. '_Obito_,' Kakashi thought, '_Obito hated combing his hair.'_

Kakashi's eye traveled downward until it rested on the boy's eyes, the bright vibrant eyes that were locked on the goggles only a few feet away from Kakashi's foot.

Those eyes, which held back unshed tears.

The boy slowly reached out inching towards the goggles with a frightened look on his face. "Please," Kakashi barely made out the soft plea from the boy as he came closer. "Please don't step on them."

Kakashi swooped down with out a second thought and plucked them from the ground before the boy laid a hand on what once belonged to his precious friend. The boy rocked back on his heels and looked up as Kakashi carefully examined them, looking for any cracks or damage, he was surprised to find them in very good condition, almost exactly as he remembered them.

Only they looked wrong, even though he wanted to hold them tight it just didn't feel right in his hands.

They certainly didn't look right on Obito's grave, to have them rot and decay from the harsh elements.

So where did they belong?

A dirty hand touched the edge of the goggles but this time Kakashi didn't pull away from it in disgust; he looked into the face of someone he had considered a demon for the last ten years. Looked at the ruffled hair, orange jacket, and tear-streaked cheeks.

This boy was not a monster. Kakashi sighed in defeat and reached down to clasp the rubber banding and spread it carefully.

Naruto tensed up as he felt Kakashi's hands go around the back of his head and strap the band so it fit comfortably. He pulled away and looked up at the older man through the safety of the orange tinted goggles before asking quietly "Who are you?"

Kakashi repressed the age-old habit of taking his romance novel from his pocket to avoid awkward situations but forced himself to speak. "My name's Kakashi Hatake. Can I trust you to take care of my friend's goggles for me?"

Naruto's face scrunched up at Kakashi's introduction, trying to remember where he had heard that name before and then it suddenly hit him. "You were the other kid," Kakashi's eye widened as Naruto stared at him with mixed emotions, then he then averted his eyes and mumbled, "from the book."

Somehow Kakashi wasn't that shocked that the kid already knew. He watched the boy touch the edge of the goggles with care; the small boy's eyes were filled with guilt.

Monsters don't feel guilty over what they've done, so if Naruto was not a monster then what was he?

Kakashi was not a man of revenge, he did not want vengeance no matter how much he loved his friend. Obito wouldn't have wanted that.

Besides, they looked right on Naruto's head, like they were made to be there, and in some twist of irony Kakashi realized he had made them for the blond boy.

Naruto was staring up at him taking in all his features as if he were memorizing them. Kakashi shifted awkwardly from the boy's intense stare but did not look away; instead he smiled and said politely, "Let's not tell Iruka we met like this."

Naruto was blown away by Kakashi's sudden change in mood but decided not to question it. He smiled widely turning his eyes into tiny slits and making the scars on his cheeks stretch out. Kakashi squashed the tiny thought that the smile made Naruto look like a fox and pushed it aside to see that beneath the orange goggles and strained smile, Naruto looked like Naruto, and nothing else.

Kakashi was not the sort of man to take revenge; you can blame that on the movies.

And he was learning how to let go of old grudges; you can blame that on Naruto.

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**Obito Obito OBITO!!! That was the spoiler by the way and if you don't know who Obito is SHAME ON YOU! That was the first time ive ever broke down and hysterically cried over a manga, i even went out and bought the raw version just so I could have it with me. By the way I'm a true believe of the Obito/Tobi connection, same colors, the single eyehole on his mask. THE GODDAMN NAME! Tobi? Obito? Come on! By the way did anyone crack up in chapter 357 when tobi did his long extended 'Seemmpaiiii!'**

**That last section was actually the easiest to write (getting Naruto inside that damn house was the hardest!)**

**Ok sorry must get back to the topic. The ending might have been hard to understand, I mean for me it's easy cuz I know exactly where this story is heading but you don't so here's the hint. Naruto was involved with Obito's death and the accident. He is also connected to the death of Iruka's parents…and many other instance that I'm not about to reveal. The connection will be clear ( I hope!) towards the end. I'm staring to like these flashbacks of mini Naruto …hmmm**

**Once again sorry for the very slow update (but check it out by far the longest chapter I've ever written) By the way I'm throwing you hints left and right here.**

**Oh last thing…..if you guys didn't get the sausage and taco joke I recommend you buy theses items and take a good look at them, then think of what it reminds you of.**

**peace**

**sam**


	13. Can i hear a RAmen!

**FUCK YES!! WHO SAW CHAPTER 364!! TOBI IS OBITO!! THE FUCKING SHARINGAN!! HE'S BACK! OBITO IS ALIVE! ALIVE I SAY!**

**::cough:: um sorry about that don't know what came over me**

**anyway new fanart by punky 4 you- go to emskiikallio deviantart page or click the links at the bottom of my profile**

**This may not be important but I've changed the genera from angst/romance to friendship/ romance. Make no mistake! There will be angst (actually a lot is coming up next chapter).**

**I don't think I've thanked my reviewers for awhile. Whenever I read them I get this gooey warm mushy feeling in the middle of my chest (I'm so talented with words…) but im starting to see a pattern, when I first post a chap I get long nice reviews. But if I take too long to update I get reviews that are in caps saying I should update. Actually the stories are done. Everything written and ready to post but I can't find the right quotes that why it takes me two months to post….dear god I hope u don't really believe that, I have a job! I need to pay for college! If u really want me to update fast then pay for my tuition and I swear id have 6 new chapters done everyday! If not then back off, I work a 40-hour shift and every night I come home tired and pissed from working with jack-offs but I still try to write.**

**I miss being a kid but thankfully I was able to blow off a lot of steam by using two people from work and making them into characters that I can rip on. As u will soon see 'Ray' is my new boss and 'Mike' is the fuck face that can't take a hint. Actually Ray said I could write about him. I quote "oh Samantha when you write your first book I want to be a character." That's basically permission right? (By the way I _hate_ being called Samantha, as well as honey, princess, sugar or any other fucked up girly names they come up with. Next person who calls me baby, I will rip out their tongue followed by all other organs inside, and then I will strangle them with their own intestines. See violence does play apart in society!)**

**Oh please note- I do not own the flying spaghetti god religion it was created by Bobby Henderson, a lot of information was taken by his book. Also although the radio can be made like I wrote I may have exaggerated some parts, it's not really that loud and u barely get any stations. (it's a fictional work just pretend ok?)**

Much love to angstkitten for editing and fixing my spelling mistakes. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHICA!!!!

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Sticks and Stones

Chapter 13- Can I hear a RAmen!

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Liar! Liar, Liar, Liar!  
You've all got your heads up your assholes because love is!  
It just is and nothing you can say can make it go away  
Because it is the point of why we are here,  
It is the highest point and once you are up there,  
Looking down on everyone else, you're there forever.  
Because if you move, right, you fall. You fall

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Students burst out of the school's doors two hours earlier than normal. They all searched the crowds for a friendly face before plopping on the grass to enjoy the sunlight. Among this mesh of teenagers one boy stumbled along as kids pushed past his slow pace. Feeling too tired to complain, the lazy boy lifted a hand to shield his eyes and stared up at the empty school building.

Shikamaru concluded that this was not a normal fire drill, seeing that there had been no ear-piercing ringing or annoying flashes. He also decided it wasn't a bomb threat because school regulations stated that during such events the school must be in lockdown. That point had never made sense to Shikamaru seeing that, if the bomb was in the school, then shouldn't the students get as far away from the school as possible?

Either way, he was outside instead of inside and he fully planed to take advantage of that fact. Shikamaru scanned the area for some shade to relax under; unfortunately, everyone seemed to have the same idea, and were crowded under the large oak trees. Nonetheless, he continued to scan the area until he spotted the sports storage shed.

The building was only a few feet tall and left little shade, but it was enough for one person. Shikamaru pushed though the mass of people keeping his eyes on the goal. When he reached the small area of shade, Shikamaru ungracefully plopped on the ground and leaned against the building. He breathed deeply and shut his eyes to enjoy the small pleasure of peace given to him.

The small pleasure of peace was short lived when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, making him flinch from the impact. He groaned and opened his eyes, hoping whoever it was wasn't expecting for him to share the limited shade; first come first serve.

When his sight adjusted, he found himself wishing it had been some random kid seeking shade instead five painfully familiar students standing before him looking down in various degrees of disgust. Shikamaru's mouth moved without thinking, and he muttered, "Oh, fuck me."

The three girls in the group flinched at his choice of words, but chose to ignore it. Shikamaru found himself slowly pulling himself to his feet, not wanting to be looked down at, even though he doubted that would change even if he was standing.

He stared at the group; his old group. His once-friends, who would talk behind his back and would make inside jokes that he wasn't a part of. Then again the jokes were probably about him, so in some way he was a part of it.

It had been subtle at first; they would scold him for being lazy and then become shocked when he received a higher grade than them. After a period of time, the jokes started. Light at first, but then harsher and crueler. Shikamaru found himself left out of conversations, and there were times where he could go days without speaking and no one would notice.

So one day, Shikamaru just left. He stopped sitting with them, stopped trying to be part of the conversation, stopped pretending that they were his friends.

"What?" Shikamaru glanced around them to see if any of his real friends were in sight, but one of the assailants stepped in front to block his view.

They seemed to sense his irritation and gave each other knowing smiles that Shikamaru suspected was another inside joke he wasn't a part of.

"Listen, we just need this tiny favor, okay? It's nothing huge, in fact I would do it, except you have the highest GPA." The girl gave a sickly sweet smile that made Shikamaru's stomach churn.

He met Chouji after he had broken away from the group, which seemed to cause endless irritation for the honors' club. Just because Chouji was an athlete his friends automatically assumed the heavy teen was a stupid jock, which was ironic in its own sense, seeing how they always complained about people labeling them for their good grades and hard work. It was a heavy blow to their pride when they finally figured out they had lost one of their geniuses to a jock.

"Look, whatever it is, I really don't care and I don't want to be a part of it." He tried to maneuver around the large group, but another kid blocked his escape.

"But you're number one in our class; you're supposed to care about representing us!" Another kid stepped closer into Shikamaru personal space, making him take a step back and end up pressed against the wall. He tried to appear bored, but inside he was trying to find the fastest escape route. "Plus, you've missed the honors' bake sale and club meetings."

Shikamaru swallowed hard as he stared at his old friends; he hated the club meetings and stupid fundraisers. He never understood what exactly they were raising money for. It was always the same act; whenever a favor was needed, they'd come back with fake smiles saying it would be the last time. And every time he would comply with their order, knowing full well he was being used.

Honestly, he'd rather hang out on the bleachers, waiting for Chouji, or talk to Sasuke about music. Even though Naruto was too noisy and did dumb things, he liked that about the boy.

Naruto wouldn't let himself be pushed around, he stood firm to his beliefs. It was the thought of Naruto that made Shikamaru speak up. "I don't give a flying fuck. No means 'leave-me-the-hell-alone'."

The group seemed taken back by Shikamaru's bold statement. Sometimes he would weakly protest, saying it was troublesome, but would eventually cave in and agree to their request just like he always did.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Shikamaru's neck snapped upward when a familiar voice practically screamed in his ear. He looked around, but didn't see the overly energetic blond anywhere, until, suddenly, an upside down hand waved in his face.

"Up here!" Everyone tilted their heads upward to see a blond head poking over the edge of the shed's roof. He grinned down at their shocked faces and scooted closer to the edge so half his body was hanging off.

"Sorry, I need to borrow my friend for a second." Naruto stretched down from his waist and grasped a hold of Shikamaru's underarms and with a grunt, Naruto lifted Shikamaru from the ground as the others stood back watching them with gaping mouths.

Shikamaru felt his back scrap painfully against the tile but said nothing; he was too shocked from being uprooted. With a final grunt, Naruto managed to pull him up and over onto the rooftop. Shikamaru finally snapped out of his daze and looked over to see Naruto grinning, obviously very pleased with himself. Naruto turned and looked down to see Shikamaru's 'friends' still looking up at the roof with startled expressions. With Naruto distracted, Shikamaru looked around his surroundings. They were well hidden on the shed; no one seemed to notice them.

To Shikamaru, it looked as if Naruto was collecting a variation of strange objects such as a toilet paper tube, a telephone cord, earphones, a penny, paper clips, twist-ties, and a flat sheet of cardboard.

Some of the items were assembled carefully while others seemed thrown about. He shrugged his shoulder, chalked it up to one of Naruto's weird hobbies, and left it at that. When he finally looked back down, the group of teenagers had finally left. Naruto turned his eyes back to his friend.

"So, you okay?" Shikamaru was taken aback by the question. He looked back to see Naruto watching him carefully, with a tiny bit of concern in his eyes.

"I'm fine," Shikamaru finally answered. Naruto nodded and began to tinker with the random objects strewn before him.

Feeling he should add a bit more, since the kid did just save his neck, Shikamaru muttered quietly, "Thanks."

Naruto looked up from his project, a little surprised, before smiling at the other boy. "Anytime."

Shikamaru smiled back and Naruto looked away embarrassed. He fiddled with one of the wires before wrapping it around the cardboard toilet paper tube. Naruto cleared his voice and asked cautiously, "So, are they always like that?"

Shikamaru kept an eye on Naruto's wires, noticing the burnt penny that laid beside it, as well as the wire attached to an exposed pipe on the roof; probably a water pipe. "Not in the beginning; they used to be pretty decent. Nowadays they only come by when they want something from me."

Naruto stopped his raveling and looked up with a guilty expression. He was silent for a moment as he connected the wire to a flat plate and twisted it around a safety pin.

Shikamaru dismissed the strange behavior and sat crossed legged to watch a fire truck pull up into the school's driveway. When Naruto held the silence, Shikamaru attempted to start a conversation. "I wonder why they evacuated us."

"I heard they found a stink bomb in library vents."

Shikamaru eyed Naruto before looking back at the fireman who were climbing out of their truck. "That's funny, because from the looks of it they haven't even found the source or location of the smell."

Naruto stopped his raveling and looked up with a mischief glint in his eye. "That is funny."

Shikamaru snorted and Naruto grinned merrily at him before looking back down at this project. Shikamaru sorted through what to say in order to keep the conversation going. This was much harder one-on-one; usually Chouji or Sasuke could keep the boy talking about anything and everything.

Before he could ask another question, Naruto spoke up in a strained voice. "So I wanted to tell you before, about the science lessons, you don't have to do that anymore. My grades have gotten better."

Naruto avoided looking at Shikamaru as he bent a paperclip and impaled it into the brown cardboard.

"I sincerely doubt you're anywhere near passing." Shikamaru chucked at the boy's expression, but before his blond friend could make any type of retaliation, Shikamaru grinned lightly and said, "Don't worry. I know you're not using me."

Naruto looked up at Shikamaru in a sense of awe before scrunching his nose and sticking out his tongue in a playful manner. They fell into a peaceful silence as Naruto went back to his project and Shikamaru rested his elbows against the roof and stared up at the clouds.

The moment of silence was broken and Shikamaru was roused from his relaxed state, when a slow buzzing crept into the air. He looked over to see Naruto scraping the exposed wires across the burnt penny, a tiny voice emerging from seemingly nowhere before quickly disappearing.

"What are you doing?"

Naruto had his tongue sticking out slightly in at the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on the tiny wires. "I can get a better reception from up here."

Suddenly the soft sound of music drifted out from Naruto's hands, and the sounds of guitars playing grew louder as a male voice rang out.

She likes me for me!  
Not because I hang with Leonardo,  
Or that guy who played in Fargo,  
I think his name was Steve.

Shikamaru was taken back, and when the music suddenly disappeared he peered over the blond's shoulder and watched a tiny spark when the wire and penny touched.

"Nope," Naruto muttered completely oblivious to his friend's astonishment, as he twisted the wire against the penny trying to pick up another reception from his self-made radio. Another song cracked though the speakers followed by a low sinful voice.

Well, I ain't evil, I'm just good lookin'  
Start a little fire, and baby start cookin'  
I'm a hungry man  
But I don't want pizza  
I'll blow down your house  
And then I'm gonna eat ya!

"Hehe, good song but not what I'm looking for." Naruto moved the exposed wire again. Shikamaru for once was dumbfounded. He quickly went over the items Naruto had put together, but could not find one electronic item to make this possible. "How the hell are you doing that?"

"Beats me," Naruto answered honestly. "Ibiki showed me how to put it together, but when he started explaining the airwaves and electrons I zoned out."

Another scratch against the penny and this time a howl erupted from the headphones.

Ahhwooooo... Werewolves of London, Ahwooooo!  
Ahhwooooo... Werewolves of London, Ahwooooo!

"Why is it when you want music there're only talk show hosts, but when you actually want to hear the news _then_ all the songs come on?" Naruto yelled loudly, but didn't stop moving the wire around the penny for a better reception.

Shikamaru stared at the contraption, completely in awe that a technical piece of equipment could be made with such simple tools. Naruto ignored Shikamaru as he put all his effort into listening to an announcement; his brow furrowed slightly and his eyes grew cold. Shikamaru was taken aback at Naruto's abrupt expression. He wished he had been listening to what exactly the radio host had said that made Naruto so angry.

"Shit." Naruto ripped the wires from the tube and threw them aside causing the low buzz of talking to break off.

Shikamaru watched his friend bring his knees to his chest and stare angrily down at his clenched fist. Feeling compelled to do so, Shikamaru moved closer and started to put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulders, but jumped when the angry boy turned and set his fierce eyes on him.

As a reflex, Shikamaru snatched his hand away and moved a few inches away from the boy. Naruto's intense glare diminished when he realized he had scared away his friend and, seeing the opportunity, Shikamaru quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Naruto sighed and watched Shikamaru's hand intensely, which made the boy wonder if Naruto wanted him to place the hand on his shoulder or if he'd bite it off if Shikamaru tried again. "He's not the guy I wanted to win."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows waiting for the upset boy to go on, but when Naruto didn't he was forced to ask. "Win what?"

"The election." As Naruto slid a tired hand through his hair, he glanced back to Shikamaru. "It'll be another four years till the next election."

There was a moment of silence between the two. Naruto was staring out at the cluster of people and Shikamaru was looking at the tangle of equipment used for the radio that was now tossed around them in bits and pieces.

The election was over, the man Naruto wanted to win had lost, so that meant there was still no equality for same-sex marriage.

It also meant Naruto would have to wait another four years for the chance to be adopted. Shikamaru didn't like the queasy feeling rising in his chest.

"Hey Shikamaru?" Said boy turned around to face Naruto, who was squinting up at the sun. "Do you think Iruka and Kakashi will still want me around?"

Shikamaru didn't answer, and Naruto continued to stare upward so he wouldn't have to meet the other boy's eyes. "I didn't win; I didn't change anything." Naruto's next words caught Shikamaru off guard, the way Naruto spoke seemed different, much harsher. "Maybe they'd be better off without trash like me."

"I don't really know your family that well," Shikamaru carefully arranged his words and made sure to include the word family since it seemed important to Naruto. "But they seem to really love you, and I don't think that love will disappear just because you tried your hardest for the sake of their happiness."

Shikamaru watched Naruto. The boy looked taken aback by Shikamaru's kind words. He opened his mouth to speak but then abruptly closed it so his teeth clicked sharply together. Shikamaru looked up towards the sky and waited for the boy to finally figure out what he wanted to say. If it had been anyone else, Shikamaru would have gotten bored over the struggling boy and lost interest long ago, but this wasn't just anyone.

"Iruka said he knows the secret to happiness." Shikamaru turned and stared at Naruto, a bit amused; somehow he doubted a grade school teacher could figure out what people spent their entire lives trying to discover. Nonetheless, he waited for Naruto to continue, which he did with some hesitation.

"Marry your best friend, that's what Iruka said." Naruto faced Shikamaru and smiled crookedly. "I think that's a pretty good philosophy."

Shikamaru turned away to stare up at the clouds; was it really that simple? Of course there were flaws to those words, situations that didn't fit and other alternatives. He tossed the words over and over in his head until it began to give him a headache.

Setting aside the physical part, isn't love basically being with a friend? An individual with no blood relation that still cares what happens to you and enjoys being around you. A person who knows your flaws but is still by your side, even in the worst situations.

Shikamaru took his time pondering these things before realizing he had left a significant gap in the conversation. He shifted slightly and studied Naruto's guarded expression before tossing a leg up and over his knee and relaxing.

"Yeah, it's not a bad idea."

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It took another hour for the students to be let back inside. By that time, school was over and the kids were sent to their lockers to pack up and leave. They had been informed that someone had placed a stink bomb in the library vents and that the wise guy would be caught and dealt with properly. Shikamaru had to swallow a smile when he listened to his peers chatter about the prankster and how he was their new hero.

Shikamaru slammed his locker shut as students crowded the hallways in an effort to reach the bus on time. A few of his old friends glanced in his direction but then quickly scurried off to their buses. Shikamaru grinned inwardly; Naruto was definitely good for scaring off unwanted people.

Shikamaru paused when he saw a familiar face; the person nodded to him before scanning the overpopulated halls looking for someone. "Oi." The boy stopped and glanced at Shikamaru. He raised his eyebrow to indicate he was listening, but was still distracted as he watched the hallways.

"I need a favor from you." Shikamaru winced as he was reminded of how his old friends had said the exact same words earlier but he shook off these unwanted feelings and reminded him self that this wasn't for him. "It's for Naruto."

The boy turned around so sharply that Shikamaru could hear a slight crack in his neck. Well, that had certainly gotten Sasuke's attention.

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People walked down the street chatting and smiling with their companions. The sun shined brightly from the cloudless sky, even though only a few hours ago it had been raining. Yes, all in all, it was a beautiful afternoon.

-Splash-

Sasuke grimaced as his foot plummeted down into yet another unstable bank of snow; his afternoon was not quite as pleasant. He gritted his teeth and slowly pulled out his wet foot; last time he pulled it out too quickly and as a result lost his shoes.

The morning rain caused the leftover snow to become unpredictable and slushy. Most of it had melted and become mud puddles, and Sasuke was taking extra care to avoid the puddles.

He reached up and gently rubbed his neck, the pain was gone but that lingering sound of a crack was haunting him. Sasuke forced him self to keep walking. According to Shikamaru; Naruto was having a bad day. No other information was given which slightly irked Sasuke, but either way he was still walking to the stupid town square, with his stupid wet foot, looking for that stupid Naruto.

As he neared the town square he realized something was off; he couldn't hear the voice that normally carried over the busy crowd. Sasuke began to walk faster, still not seeing the energetic boy. What had Shikamaru meant when he said Naruto was having a bad day? Couldn't he have been a little bit more specific?!

He sighed in relief when he finally spotted a blond head jumping around. As he came closer, Sasuke grew puzzled at the scene. Yes, that was Naruto standing under a coffee shop, but why was he jumping straight up and down on the sidewalk? He watched the boy crouch down low before springing upward with an outstretched hand, reaching for the coffee sign they hung in front of the door. Naruto barely touched it and he fell back towards the ground. Sasuke walked closer and was finally able to see why Naruto was trying to touch the sign. At the very top of the hinges there were some orange papers stuck in the crevasse, just out of the jumping boy's reach.

Sasuke was just about to walk up to the boy and ask what kind of demonstration this was supposed to be, when he was distracted by two men sitting on a bench snickering at Naruto's failed attempts to retrieve the papers.

They seemed to be falling over themselves laughing at Naruto. One was lightly tan with a trimmed goatee starting from his earlobes that met at the pointy base of his chin. He wore a golden cross around his neck that swayed and he chuckled. The man wore a red shirt, black pants and a nametag that read Ray.

The other man was much younger. He was also dressed in a red shirt and black pants, and his laughs were thicker because of his Jamaican accent. He had the exact same goatee as the older man, but his double chin quivered as he chuckled. His man boobies flopped over his nametag, almost completely hiding it but when he shifted it clearly read Mike.

Sasuke suppressed the urge to throttle the two men as he stormed past them, and Naruto ceased jumping when he felt a presence next to him. Spinning around quickly Naruto opened his mouth to yell, but was cut short when he realized it was Sasuke in front of him. Naruto face flushed as he turned to avoid looking at him straight in the eye. He stepped away as Sasuke stood up on his tiptoes and snatched the orange papers out of the tight spot.

He was about to hand the papers back to Naruto when his fingers slipped across the smooth surface making him take a closer look. He slowly looked back to Naruto and asked in a mocking voice, "Did you have these laminated?"

Sasuke's words seemed to spark something, just enough for the ashamed boy to look him in the eye and muttered. "You have no idea how many people like to drop them in puddles."

"It's his own fault, the boy was being mouthy," Ray yelled from the bench. He eyed the newcomer with distaste before turning to his buddy and spoke in a high irritating voice. "I mean, I'm all for two girls hooking up, but two guys? Now that's disgusting."

Naruto's face crumbled and Sasuke felt a swell of rage burn in his chest; this guy was a fucking hypocrite! Without thinking about the consequence Sasuke stepped towards the two men and spoke. "You don't have the balls to be a queer!"

Oh shit, they did not look happy.

Ray's face grew an unusual shade of red; he leaped up from his spot, and quickly crossed the threshold. Sasuke could do nothing as the old man came so close he could smell onion breath. When Ray drew back his hand into a fist, Sasuke shut his eyes and cursed; it had been much more effective when Naruto had said it.

Sasuke felt his shirt collar tighten around his throat and pull him back sharply before the fist could make contact. He opened his eyes to see Naruto smiling down at him; the blond boy's fingers were twisted around Sasuke's shirt.

"Not that I'm insulting your use of words, in fact, bravo!" Naruto released his hold on Sasuke's shirt and patted him on the back. Naruto's eyes were bright as he scoped out his opponents. "But it's a good idea to be out of range when insulting someone, and, I don't know, maybe keep your eyes open?"

Mike had risen from his seat and was staring at the two boys. He said nothing, but made a strange noise with his mouth like he was sucking water in between his teeth. Ray seemed to recover from his hit and miss. "You fucking fuckers!"

Naruto smirked and cocked an eyebrow at the older man. "As cursing goes, that sucked. Can't you come up with anything better?"

"You little bastard." Ray made another attempt to land a punch but this time it was directed at Naruto. Sasuke had a moment of panic when it looked as if Naruto wasn't going to avoid the hit, but at the last moment the blond boy grabbed the incoming fist and directed it over his right shoulder, causing the man to stumble and fall.

As Ray lay on the road, Naruto squatted down besides him and grinned evilly. "Actually, both my parents were married when they had me, so I'm not a legit bastard." Naruto's eye twinkled as he looked up at Sasuke. "Can't really say the same for this bastard, though."

Surprisingly enough, Sasuke didn't feel insulted; he just rolled his eyes as Naruto stood up bouncing on his heels. "At least I'm not a dobe."

"You faggots!" Ray spat the last word in their face, and watched to see how they would react. Sasuke flinched slightly but Naruto had long ago built up a resistance when it came to that word. He opened his mouth to respond but stopped and eyed Sasuke; the dark haired boy understood the silent challenge.

He cleared his voice and remembered Naruto's good advice about keeping your eyes open and staying a reasonable distance between the violent man. "A bundle of sticks and branches bound together; that's a pretty lame insult."

"Mother fucker!" It seemed Mike wanted to join in the party. He lent his arm to Ray and pulled him upward, and the two men glared at the two boys.

But Sasuke didn't miss a beat as he turned to Naruto with a straight face and asked point blank. "Do I really have to defend myself on that one?"

Seeing Naruto's gasping for air made Sasuke break out of his stoic mask and laugh alongside his friend.

"You think you're funny? You think hell is funny?" Naruto stopped laughing and looked up with surprise; it seemed they had drawn a crowd. Many people were whispering and pointing at the two boys.

Ray used the crowd to draw courage. He pointed at Naruto and shouted so everyone could hear his voice. "Because that's where you're going; that's where all faggots go to in the end."

Ray touched his golden necklace and shut his eyes before reciting proudly, "'Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.' Leviticus 18:22"

Everything on the street seemed to freeze. No one spoke. The recited phrase seemed to echo in Sasuke's head, it had been so easy before to have a quick comeback, but now his mind drew a blank; how are you suppose to fight a religion?

At that moment Sasuke felt a bit isolated from Naruto. He wasn't sure what it was like to have the knowledge that someone truly believed hell was reserved for people who had done nothing more than fallen in love.

If someone truly believed that kind of love was evil, that Iruka and Kakashi were evil just for loving each other.

He looked to Naruto for some kind of reassurance but was surprised by what he saw. Naruto's eyes were hardened, his lips curled into a fierce sneer, and the boy curled his hands into fists. Sasuke felt a tiny shiver run through his body as everything from Naruto's stiff posture to his slit eyes screamed deadly.

But when the boy finally spoke his words and tone suggested nothing of his hostile behaviors; in fact it was light and humorist. "Oh, is it my turn now? I'm a little rusty, so you'll have to excuse the fact that I don't know the exact verse, but I'll give it a shot. The whole universe was first created with a mountain, trees, and a midget. Afterwards, the almighty creator decided a heaven was needed, so he created one that has beer volcanoes as far as the eye can see and a stripper factory."

During Naruto's little speech, Sasuke couldn't help but notice the way Naruto was able to push back his anger. In fact it frightened him a bit that the boy could be so manipulative.

"What in God's name are you talking about?" Sasuke quickly focused on the speaker and watched Ray nervously release his golden chain and step away from the boy. Naruto gave him a twisted smile. Once again, Sasuke felt a strange chill down his back, and was glad that the boy hadn't come any closer to him.

Naruto tilted his head in a curious fashion, and regarded the man. "Exactly. We're talking about God, right? You just told me about yours, so I thought it only be fair to share mine."

Naruto dug around in his jacket pocket until he unearthed a squashed packet of ramen, he held it high above him and spoke in a holier-than-thou voice, "The gospel of the Flying Spaghetti God."

Despite his earlier fears Sasuke couldn't help a snort of laughter; only Naruto would have a spare ramen package in his pocket.

Ray seemed to have different feeling for Naruto's religion. "God is not a flying ball of pasta!"

"He is in my religion!" Naruto continued to hold the package of Ramen above his head. He slid back into the ringmaster position as he addressed the crowd just as Ray had done moments before, except when Naruto spoke it brought smiles to the audience's faces.

"According to The Flying Spaghetti God the real reason behind global warming is because of the decrease in pirates since the 1800s. I mean, look at the facts: no pirates and suddenly there are natural disasters happening all over the world. I mean, how can you argue with that kind of logic?"

Unfortunately, as Naruto was speaking, he failed to keep track of enemy movements. Ray managed to sneak up behind him and land a solid punch on the back of Naruto's head. The moment of the hit caused Naruto to spin and crash on the sidewalk, and the packet of ramen was smashed beneath him. Ray stood above the fallen boy, panting, until he finally pulled himself together enough to yell, "That's complete bullshit!"

Sasuke made a move to help the blond, but Naruto turned to him with sharp eyes, and it was like an invisible wall had been cemented between them, forcing Sasuke to stay rooted. When Naruto seemed sure the other boy wouldn't interfere, he set his cold calculated eyes on Ray and gave him an ugly grin.

"Well maybe you shouldn't use your fucking religion when arguing." Naruto's nose was bleeding from where he had smashed it against the ground and he wiped his lip where a small amount of blood pooled on the indentation.

He slowly pulled himself to his feet and uncovered his nose letting the blood run freely down his chin and neck. "Using God is the worst way to try and win an argument. The whole point of America is that no religion has any more power than another. Just because you can recite a phrase from a book doesn't mean you can stick it in the Constitution."

The crowd of people had expanded, they watched with interest, and began whispering among themselves. Ray didn't seem to notice; he was too angry to look anywhere else but at the shrimp he was looking down at. But Mike noticed. He glanced around as the whispers' volume increased. Mike began to make the weird sucking noise again and began to tug on his friend's arm pulling him away from the crowd, but Ray couldn't resist one last jibe. "You're freaks, the both of you!"

Sasuke had also found it a good time to start pulling Naruto away from the crowd's eyes, but when Ray spoke he answered back before Naruto had a chance to retaliate. "Sticks and stones, my friend!"

Naruto's stiff composure seemed to diminish; he pulled his arm away and picked up his pace so he was no longer speed walking but running alongside Sasuke. With a cheeky grin, he cupped his hand to his ear and yelled out to the throng of people. "Can I hear a RAmen?!"

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The two friends raced down the market area, neither looking back in fear that Ray would be chasing them. Instead they sprinted towards 'The Jungle', a place Sasuke was becoming increasingly familiar with. He managed to reach the door first, and turned around to gloat in the boy's face until he saw Naruto eyeing the door with dread.

"They said they weren't mad, but what if they…" Naruto's voice drifted off, as if unable to really ask the question.

As Sasuke opened his mouth, Naruto seemed to push aside any anxiety and yanked open the stubborn door. He felt the instant relief as the cushion of warm air blew across his face.

He followed Naruto past the doors and into the main bar area, but almost ran into Naruto who had stopped short. He looked past the frozen boy's shoulder and was greeted by the sight of six adults clustered around a small table. Each of them had a shot of liquor in front of them and they seemed to be trying to organize some kind of song. They finally got it together as Hayate paused to cough and then counted them off.

"Dun-nu-nu-nu!" They shouted before chugging their drinks and slamming it down on the table simultaneously that made two sharp clanks.

-click click-

"Dun-nu-nu-nu!" The glasses were quickly refilled as they repeated the phrase, which was beginning to sound like a sloppy version of 'The Addams Family' song. Again the shot glasses came down to make the noise.

-click click-

Someone must have spotted the newly entered, for all it took was one shout of "**NARUTO'S HOME!"** and six fully grown adults jumped up sloppily from their seats and tumbled and toppled over each other for the boy. Naruto could do nothing as the mass of bodies came crashing down on him; it was the dog pile of the century.

Naruto managed to stick his hand out of the mountain of bodies and waved hopelessly for help. "Sasuke, get these lushes off of me!"

Slowly the adults climbed off each other and laughed as Naruto lay on the ground like a pancake. Anko seized the boy and pulled him upward; she dusted off his back while scolding the boy for his poor dodging skills.

Iruka, who had the least amount of alcohol in him, noticed a spot of blood smeared across Kakashi's shirt. "Are you bleeding?!"

"N-no," Kakashi laughed and waved off Iruka's worried behavior. "It's not even mine."

"Idiot! You could still get internal bleeding, it's impossible to tell. Maybe you should go take your medicine just in case." Kakashi rolled his eyes but agreed for his boyfriend's sake.

As the rest of the group looked around for the source of blood, Naruto covered his nose and grabbed Sasuke by the arm so he could drag him to the door leading upstairs. The intoxicated adults didn't even notice until they heard the slam of the door.

Tsunade looked to Jiraiya with a sly smile and opened her mouth to speak but the red face man quickly cut her off by shouting.

"MORE SOUTHERN COMFORT!"

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Naruto tilted his head upward to keep the blood from shooting out as he unlocked his apartment door. Sasuke followed him in and respectfully kicked off his shoes, even though Naruto didn't bother to.

He thought it was a bit odd that Iruka was freaked out by a little blood; maybe he had some kind of blood-phobia? Sasuke was so deep in thought that he barely registered Naruto telling him he was taking a shower to wash the blood off. Only when his thoughts were broken by the sound of running water did he snap out of the cycle of thoughts.

Without really thinking about it, Sasuke headed towards the kitchen area to check up on how stocked the refrigerator was. He was pleased to see a variety of items besides eggs on the shelves. Feeling dehydrated from the run, Sasuke snagged a small bottle with a yellow label and popped the tab not bothering to check what it was. He wandered into Naruto's bedroom and took a large gulp before spitting it across the room as the sweet tang pierced his taste buds.

He turned over the bottle and wiped his lips in disgust. Pineapple juice, only Naruto could find and like something so incredibly odd.

Sasuke swallowed the last bit of taste in his mouth before cursing profoundly. His spray of juice seemed to have targeted on a blanket that was covering some kind of box. He squashed the tiny thought that maybe he could wash it before Naruto got out of the shower.

He lifted the wet blanket and blinked down at the object it had been covering. A small crate with a metal padlock but no lock lay before him. Sasuke's fingers itched and he reassured himself that he was only checking to make sure nothing inside the box had gotten wet.

Sasuke slowly opened up the crate and winced as the hinges creaked. He glanced in the direction of the bathroom but could still hear the sound of running water. With new determination he reached in and grabbed the first item lying on top. It creaked slightly and he had to blow off the layer of dust. Then a slim paper flopped in his open hand.

It was transparent, so Sasuke aimed it towards the window so the light would filter though. Unless he was mistaken, Sasuke was pretty sure he was looking at an x-ray picture of lungs, or at least one lung; the other one looked deflated. Why the hell did Naruto have a x-ray picture of a lung?

Setting the strange picture aside he reached for the next object and grunted as he pulled out a set of weights. They were very similar to the ones Naruto had used for Chouji's race, except these were smaller and slightly lighter.

His arms ached so he quickly put the ankle weights down next to the x-ray. The next item was another piece of paper, except it wasn't transparent, and it seemed more official and significant. Sasuke quickly scanned the page, not understanding much of what it said except that it was some type of guardianship with Iruka's name written on the bottom along with two others with the same last name.

He set the paper down carefully sensing its importance and reached to find what had to be the most unusual item thus far; it was a pair of orange goggles.

Sasuke carefully cradled the goggles, it was hard to tell but it looked like the orange glass had been broken and then glued back together very carefully.

He set them on top of the papers with Iruka's name and once again reached into the 'fun' box. His fingers wrapped around a long smooth object. Sitting back on his heels, Sasuke examined the newest object; it was a thick cigar with writing from one end to another, stating "congratulation it's a boy!"

"Okay…" Sasuke mumbled as he rolled the cigar between his thumb and pointer finger and the earthy smell drifted pleasantly around the room.

His hand reached to grab the next item, but was surprised when he was met with splintering wood. He put his finger in his mouth to suck out the splinter, and then spit it off to the side. Sasuke looked down to see one more item lying in the very corner, as if hidden from sight. With a raw hand he reached to pull up the very last item, a bunch of thick papers tied together with six words printed on the first page.

The title read "The Uzumaki Chronicle; a Monster Tale'

As if that wasn't weird enough, next to the title in bright red crayon was a childlike scrawl of the word "monster" copied straight from the title.

It was then that Sasuke heard the water turn off from the shower. He quickly threw everything back inside the box and covered it back up with the wet blanket.

**We all make mistakes; it's normal, it's natural, and, most of all, it's human.**

With shaking hands, Sasuke located a pen and paper and wrote a quick note saying he had to leave.

**Of course, this doesn't mean that they aren't incredibly stupid mistakes. Mistakes such as stealing from your once punching bag, now sort of friend.**

Sasuke jammed the bundle of papers in his backpack and ran towards the front door; he opened it just in time to hear the bathroom door click open. He ran out and shut it behind him so he couldn't hear Naruto call his name in a confused tone.

**Especially if said boy barely trusts you in the first place.**

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Three years ago

Motherly, sweet, and friendly.

None of these words have ever been used to describe Mitarashi Anko.

Growing up on the streets may have been a small factor in that, but the truth was she really wasn't the type of person to give a shit if a child got a cut on their elbow; to her it only made them tougher.

She wasn't capable of crying at a romantic movie; too boring, you might as well sleep through it.

Anko didn't seek out people for friendship; she had all the friends she needed, why make more?

Anko was also not capable of getting a good night's sleep thanks to her insomnia. Currently she was sitting in 'The Jungle' bar at 3:11 sipping a nightcap. She didn't bother looking up when the metal door leading up to the apartment opened with a squeak. The room was silent once again and she set her cup down on the bar counter.

"I know you're there." Anko, mentally smacking herself, tried again for a non-threatening tone, which she did not achieve. "Stop hiding and come here."

Inwardly she cursed herself for having no people skills, or, in this case, children skills. If it had been any other child she would have ignored it or yelled scram. But no, this wasn't just any kid.

Ten-year-old Naruto had his back pressed against the door. He wore an oversized shirt and a pair of orange goggles perched on his blond hair, and he was looking at her with frightened eyes.

Anko swallowed hard, she didn't want him to be scared of her; in fact that was the last thing she wanted. She felt her stomach twist into tight knots and tried to push back the memory of a blond baby wailing in her arms.

"Can't sleep?" The boy had made no movements so Anko tried to drop her uneasiness in hopes that the boy would be less tense around her. "I'm having a hard time sleeping myself."

"What are you drinking?"

The voice was so tiny and faraway Anko barely heard it, she glanced down at her glass and watched the brown rum swirl slightly. "Something to help me fall asleep faster."

Naruto shuffled closer and Anko held her breath as the small boy peered down in her cup with sudden curiosity. "Can I have some too?"

Anko paled at thought of what Iruka would do if he found out she gave a minor alcohol, especially a ten-year-old. "I have a better idea."

She got up from the barstool and flinched when Naruto took a few steps back to keep a safe distance between them. Anko walked behind the bar and reached up in the high cabinets to grab a coffee mug. In the corner of her eye she saw Naruto climb on her abandoned stool and peer over the countertop. Anko set the cup down with a click and leaned in close to whisper. "I'm making you magic sleeping potion."

Naruto's face twisted in surprise. He glanced around to see anyone else was around before leaning closer to Anko and whispered back. "You can do that?"

Anko smirked at the boy's overcautious behavior, she had forgotten how willing children were to believe in magic, something she had lost at a far younger age. "Why yes, it's an old family recipe that's been passed down from generation to generation."

She turned around and plucked a few unnecessary objects from the top cabinet. Naruto sat up taller on his stool and tried unsuccessfully to look beyond Anko's shoulder. "What's in it?"

Anko glanced back and pursed her lips together in a frown. "If I tell you it won't work."

Naruto's eyes grew big and he covered his eyes with his small hands. Anko couldn't help a tiny chuckle that escaped her mouth; the kid was way too cute for his own good. She turned on the tap water and waited for it to turn lukewarm before dunking the empty mug under the steam of water.

She unscrewed the caps to cinnamon and other spice but didn't pour them in the water, instead she made the effort in making it look like she was dumping the seasoning in and mixing them. Feeling satisfied she replaced the items and turned back to the blond boy with a pleased grin.

Naruto didn't wait for her to set the cup down, but reached over and allowed Anko to carefully hand over the mug. He looked curiously into the cup; it was too dark to tell what color the liquid held, Anko held back a laugh when he brought it under his nose and gave it a small sniff.

While Naruto examined the cup, Anko took a moment to stare openly at the marks stretching across his face. It seemed the doctors didn't heal them in time and had caused them to scar. She idly wondered if the mark on his stomach had scared over as well.

She could hear a nasty voice in the back of her head reminding her that if she had been a little faster that day and wasn't drowned in self-pity maybe the boy wouldn't have had to grow up with scars. But she shook off these thoughts, knowing what memory they would eventually lead to.

Instead, she focused on the boy at hand. She was pleased to see him gulping down the warm water, and some of the liquid crept past his lips and ran down his chin. Something stirred in Anko chest as she watched him lean backwards to catch the last remaining drops of magic in the cup.

He set the cup down with a click and Anko leaned over to pick it up. At the last second Naruto tightened his hand on the cup and stared up daringly into the woman's face.

"Why are you being nice?"

The question threw Anko off-balance. She reminded herself that more then half the inhabitance of 'The Jungle' were not happy about Naruto sharing the same household as them. Every time Naruto entered a room Gai would make these strange grunting noises like a hippo being strangled.

She tried to come up with a decent response that would not frighten the kid. She finally settled on the fail-safe answer that her own parents would have said.

"I'll tell you when you're older."

Naruto frowned, obviously having heard that phrase before. He held out a fisted hand and let his little finger slip out so it was facing Anko. "Pinky swear you'll tell me one day, and that you'll teach me how to make the potion."

Anko smirked at the boy's determined face. The boy had guts that was for sure. Feeling silly she reached out her own fist.

"You drive a hard bargain, kiddo." She let her pinky pop out and twisted around Naruto's tiny finger. His hand was a little wet, but warmer then she expected. "Okay, when you're older I'll teach you how to make the magic potion and everything else, but for now you need some sleep."

Naruto nodded and released her pinky. She smiled when he gave a big yawn and then paused half-way through to look at her with excited eyes.

"Ah, I see my potion has already started. You better go to bed or else you'll fall asleep here."

Naruto nodded and jumped off the high stool. Anko followed him and opened the heavy door so he wouldn't have to overwork himself. Naruto's eyes stared closing as he gave another half yawn and stared climbing up the flight of stairs. Anko padded up the stairs behind him and smiled when he stopped to rub his eyes.

Without even thinking about it, Anko leaned down and motioned for the tired boy to climb on her back. She felt his tiny hands hesitate to touch her shoulder before they wrapped loosely around her neck. She grabbed the back of his knees and stood up with ease; the grip around her neck tightened so she hitched him up higher and began the long trek up three flights of stairs.

When Naruto relaxed in her hands, Anko didn't think about how she wasn't motherly, sweet, or friendly.

When he gave a sigh and laid his head against Anko's back, she didn't think about how she had found him buried deep between the folds of black bags.

And when he gave a tiny snore, she wasn't thinking about Orochimaru.

In fact, she wasn't thinking about any of those things. Instead, she was wondering if the kid loved Halloween as much as her; if his choice in color said anything about him, then Anko would have to say yes. She also wondered if he had ever been thrown a real birthday party and if he had ever tried a delicious dango.

Anko wondered what he'd think if she volunteered to teach him a few basic fighting techniques, and maybe some overtime with her 'friendly' encouragement would get the others to show the boy a couple of their own tricks.

She found herself humming a small tune as she made her way to the boy's new room; it took her a minute to realize she was humming "_Angel in the Centerfold_'. It seemed Jiraiya had become a bigger influence on her then she originally thought. However, she continued to hum the pervert lullaby, liking how the boy relaxed further in her arms.

Knowing she couldn't carry a tune for her life Anko smiled in a humorless way as she spoke the lyrics out loud but softly, so not to awaken the sleeping boy.

"Pure like snowflakes no one could ever stain, the memory of my angel could never cause me pain."

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**Holy crap is that a plot? YES YES IT IS! Ok so remember those objects! They are key element in the story especially the order they were pulled out. If you check the other chapters you might find clues about the objects (except for the x-ray picture, I messed up on that one) Oh and don't make fun of the title of the stolen book! That actually took me a very long time to come up with!!**

**OMG I insulted god! Noooooo**

**Ya-ya rawrr…the flying spaghetti god is actually true document I didn't take any part in making that up. (I'm full of useless knowledge about stuff like FSM-ism and building radios) I couldn't resist especially when I saw at the end of the passage instead of saying 'amen' it ends with RAmen (haha get it he's a fly spaghetti god! Ramen is packaged noodles)**

**Hope I didn't make Shikamaru OCC, I think he's the type of guy that would be easily manipulated by friends just cuz he's just protest lightly. Sorry his old friends didn't have names, my brain zoned out so I skipped around their personalities. Actually I think I'm making Naruto OCC he a bit too smart huh? Crap.**

**I love Anko she the best female character, I feel bad she was out of character I tried to make her awkward and un-mothery as possible. By the way all she just gave Naruto warm water, my grandma use to make me 'magic potion' when I couldn't sleep. I have huge plans for Anko's past (I've written most of it but then stop cuz it makes me sick) and Naruto is an important factor.**

**Oh my did sammi very sneakily put in some good songs into the fic! Bad sammi bad bad bad. Here the deal I hurt my foot a while ago (in a cool way went flying off a jump with my sled, too bad no one filmed it). After doing physical therapy the doc said I should try and strengthen it some more, so I've been running to these songs so they're somewhat imbedded in my mind.**

**And ya I took a couple of stabs at religion, don't worry I'm not going to start an all out rant about my beliefs. I got what I believe down, I'm sure you can figure out what you believe in all on your own.**

**peace,**

**sam**


	14. No one hurts me and goes free

**I got nominated for a Naruto fanfiction contest!! Do you know how freaken weird that is?? Wow just damn I cant stop smiling this is really wicked!! Ok deep breath-thank you to whoever has nominated me, that was really cool of you. Let the bribing began!! ….shit I got nutten. Um…. OBITO FOR PREZ!**

**Moving on, first things first I owe a couple of apologies-I'm sorry for revealing a spoiler in my last chapter for anyone who hasn't seen the newest Naruto chapters. I just got excited and wrote it down without really considering those who were reading. But on the other hand…SPOILER-turns out I was wrong, even if that kills me to say since I love Obito. OBITO FOR PREZ! …that was the last time I swear.**

**Second apology-The Uzumaki chronicles; monster's tale. I did a really really bad job writing the contents of the book. This is not one of those 'oh my I'm going to talk about how bad I am a writing so pple will say how wonderful I am at it' no no no this is more like 'please don't kill me for my lack of imagination.' In my defense I tried to write a short poem to start it off ( I hate poetry!!)AND I did try to make it up in one paragraph but if anyone still confused go ahead and tell me and I'll try to explain what's going on. And if that still doesn't work then use that that lovely imagination of urs and just pretend it's utterly brilliant**

**Third apology- this chap turned out much more violent than I expected but cut me a little slack, I just started college and I'll admit I'm a little frustration. For the record I never said throwing pepper in someone eye was a nice thing to do**

**Oh last thing I swear, there's a BIG SPOILER towards the end concerning names, so don't say I didn't warn ya this time!**

**Lots of love and thanks to my beta-angstkitten, without her this story wouldn't be readable. Also punky 4 you's sister drew me a really cool drawing of Naruto and 'Stuart', if u click my profile page and go to the bottom then u can check it out.**

**I love this quote, it's possible one of my favorite cuz it gets my blood boiling(cliques to say but true nonetheless.) Also I love the title to this chapter, it's from a band that I can't remember but I remember loven the lyrics.**

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**Sticks and Stones**

**Chapter 14-No one hurts me and goes free**

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_Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun._

_To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past,_

_To roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come,_

_To savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given_

_And the pain you are giving back--in many ways it is a feast fit for a king._

_The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself._

_The skeleton at the feast is you_

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Sasuke felt bile rise in the back of his throat.

He had sped home and locked himself in his room. His heart raced, not only from the run, but also because he had actually stolen something from Naruto's house.

It was an impulsive and stupid thing to have done, and only now was Sasuke feeling a twinge of guilt, but that feeling was suppressed by his need to find out more about the boy.

It wasn't fair that Naruto kept so many goddamn secrets. If he had just told Sasuke even a few he would have been satisfied. But now he had been tempted by the apple of knowledge, and he bit though that juicy fruit.

So Sasuke sat on his bed, munching on a snack, as he leafed through the papers. The more he read, the more he lost his appetite for the snack and the more his hunger for knowledge grew. In fact, he had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that said the snack might be making a comeback. After finishing the last page, Sasuke returned to the beginning and reread the first sentence.

_Fairy tales are poison for little boys and girls_

_A happy ending is only one that's covered in lies._

_It mixes up warnings and words to fear_

_And sometimes it hides a monster in disguise_

_So let me tell a story, one I'm sure you've never heard_

_Of a monster free from caged bars_

_The only way to find him is to know_

_He's marked with whiskered scars_

Naruto was the main character of the story. The entire book was set in an unknown time period, and instead of a boy, Naruto was described as a demonic fox sprit that took the form of a boy. The wording was simple, like reading a children's book, but it was a grotesque tale, layered in bloody gore and angst. Certainly not a story you'd read to a young, impressionable child.

The author's tone throughout the story was strange; it held no sorrow for the death of the people in the story. In fact it seemed a little detached and emotionless. On the other hand, whenever the author referred to Naruto, it was heavy in disgust and hatred for the boy.

The deaths were described to the very last detail, starting with Naruto killing his own mother, to taking the life of an innocent baby. The writer spared no mercy when describing their deaths. Sasuke skipped ahead and skimmed though the words.

In the story Naruto had tricked people with his fake innocent nature, leading them to believe and trust him, but then they were blindsided as the real Naruto came out.

The worst part was, most of the words hit Naruto dead on.

His ability to hide behind a mask.

How he could manipulate people.

There was also a description of Naruto's whiskers, each representing a life he had stolen. This was outrageous; there was no way any of it could really be true, but at the same time, what did he really know about Naruto anyway? He had no family, he was extremely violent, and he had unexplainable scars on his face and stomach. Those were the only three truths Sasuke knew about Naruto

Everything else could have been, and most likely was, fake.

Sasuke remembered how Naruto had hidden his anger at Ray and Mike, and he used their words to his advantage, or how he tricked people with his gay cookbook pamphlets. He had even lied to Ebisu in order to save his own ass.

Hell, he had even waited three years to take revenge on Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru. Waited for the right moment, when they least expected it and nobody could stop him.

It was only a matter of time before the real Naruto came out and betrayed them.

Slowly Sasuke picked up the pile of papers and traced the red lettering with his finger. He slid his finger under the title page and flipped it over and began to reread for the third time, slowly a seed of hate and fear began to grow in his chest.

_Do not trust his words_

_Do not trust his soul_

_For all you'll find is a killer_

_Whose heart is as black as coal_

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Chouji tilted his head slightly to the side so he could glance at the boy behind him. Naruto continued to work on his math problem, not noticing the pair of eyes on him.

He turned back and looked at his open math notebook. After making sure the teacher wasn't looking, Chouji slid a stack of papers he had hidden under the notebook and was surprised by the odd title "Uzumaki Chronicles: A Monster Tale". Shikamaru had grabbed him before he entered his math class and shoved the papers into his hands. Shikamaru had looked intense and nervous as he explained to Chouji that Sasuke said to pass this along to him and not to let Naruto see him with it. Chouji thought this was a rather odd request, but promised nonetheless.

Using his forearms as a block, Chouji opened the page and began to read. Half way through class Chouji raised his hand and asked to go to the bathroom. The teacher reluctantly relinquished the pass and Chouji scuttled away without even glancing in Naruto's direction. He spent the entire period locked inside the boy's bathroom paging through the story with a morbid fashion. He was so absorbed that by the time he finished, the next period bell had rung. Chouji quickly ran back to his last class to collect his books but the teacher caught him and gave him a detention for skipping the class.

For once, he didn't care. His mind was playing over the new information he had received, not willing to really accept it yet.

Naruto had killed people?

His own mother, an unborn baby, an innocent boy, two parents.

At least some people had seemed to survive in the story, but as Chouji reread the survivor's tale, he wondered if death would have been more merciful.

Each chapter was dedicated to one of Naruto's so-called "victims".

One boy lost his sight in one eye; another was given a scar on his face. A boy, no older than himself, had his knee shattered and broken beyond repair. Chouji felt his chest contract when reading the part where Naruto had brutally stabbed a man's lung with a knife.

At first Chouji thought it was ridiculous; this was a made up story about a terrifying demon that happen to be named Naruto. It was in no way true.

But it didn't help that the last few pages had the titles of newspaper clippings glued on one side of the page. Though crinkled and yellow with age, Chouji was able to identify the four obituaries, with a picture of the person along with the date of their birth and death. Every single one of them died on the same day.

Chouji pushed his feelings aside and decided to think about this logically. Was Naruto capable of violence? Of lying and manipulating others?

Yeah, Naruto was definitely capable.

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Lunch had arrived far too quickly for the three boys. They walked in as a group, immediately spying Naruto sitting at their usual spot. When the lone boy looked up he began waving his hands around excitedly trying to get their attention. They slowly made the walk to the table thinking the same thought:

**What type of person could so easily accept friendship from the three boys who tormented him for the last three years, unless he had some sort of plan or motive?**

Naruto beamed when Sasuke sat next to him. The boy shifted uneasily and tried to focus on what the overall happy boy was saying, "Hey, I didn't see you in the hall, so I just came here."

Sasuke nodded and said nothing, he was too busy staring at the marks on Naruto's face; the marks of a freed monster.

Naruto shrugged off the quiet boy and instead turned to his next victim and elbowed him softly in the stomach. "Where's my sandwich?"

Chouji was taken aback by Naruto's demand. Inwardly he felt a bit of anger squirm in his stomach, but he reminded himself that he had to act calm and normal, at least until they figured out what they were going to do with the boy. "Oh, hold on."

He set his backpack on the floor and reached inside for the extra lunch his father had been packing for the last couple of weeks. He didn't expect Naruto to bend down impatiently and start riffling through the pack looking for his free meal.

Chouji tried to stop him but Naruto just impatiently knocked his hands aside and in his search pulled out the papers they had been trying to hide from him all day.

Naruto stared at the title page with his last name; he looked up in surprise and confusion. "This is mine," he stated. Looking back at the innocent paper, he unconsciously began to smooth out the crinkles and asked in an eerily calm voice, "Why do you have it?"

Guilty, Sasuke attempted to turn the question around by asking his own question. "Why didn't you tell us about this? Aren't we your friends?"

Naruto said nothing; he stared down at the pile of papers, carefully tracing the lettering with his thumb.

"What the hell is this? Why would someone write this about you if it wasn't …" Shikamaru trailed off, but it was obvious what the last, unspoken word was going to be: "true".

"Remember how I said I could write a book on things you don't know about me?" Naruto's voice was softened, and he finally looked up with a hopeless expression. "Well, this is the book."

"So it's true?"

"A little. I mean, most of it, but not the way it's written." Naruto pitifully tried to explain, but was lost in his own shame.

Sasuke felt a wave of disgust rush over him. Naruto was looking everywhere except in their eyes. No longer even able to look at the pathetic boy, Sasuke stood up and began to walk away from the table; Shikamaru and Chouji followed in suit.

Naruto leapt up from his seat to follow them, but he was ignored. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was on the brink of tears.

"It's not all real; I'm not really a monster!" Naruto reached out in one last desperate attempt and grabbed Sasuke by the hand. Without thinking, he pulled him back with all his strength.

Sasuke gasped as arm was nearly ripped out of its socket. He wrenched his hand away and pushed at Naruto's chest to create some distance between them.

"Don't touch me!"

The push had unbalanced Naruto; he had not expected Sasuke to reject him so harshly. The world tipped and Naruto found himself falling backwards. He reached out for a solid object to catch his fall, and his finger caught a hold of the rim of a garbage can. The wheels tipped backwards, causing the day-old trash to spill onto the clean tile. With a cry, Naruto fell into the middle of it, soaking the back of his jeans with rotting garbage.

Laughter broke out, and Naruto looked up to realize that, for the first time, the entire cafeteria had been watching them, and then, like a studio audience, they broke out in simulated laughter. Naruto looked around in disbelief at the trash piled around him; an unfinished carton of milk soaked his pant legs, while big globs of ketchup and mustard stained his jacket's sleeve. He looked to the trio of boys for some kind of reassurance that this was all just a big joke.

Then Naruto did something strange; he began to laugh. His laughter was bold and untamed. Just the sound of the hysterical laughter caused the other laughter to die down.

Naruto lay on the floor surrounded by piles of trash, the potent smell of decaying food soaked into his jacket and sent a cold chill where it touched his skin. He held up a handful of trash and letting it slip slowly in between his fingertips, and still he laughed.

He laughed as Sasuke, Shikamaru and Chouji stared down at him with cold eyes. In Chouji's hands was his story, and he laughed harder.

The laughter was starting to hurt his chest and he vaguely wondered through his gasps of air if someone could die from laughing too hard.

Because the laughter wasn't letting up, and the people he had considered friends were still staring at him like he worth the same as the trash that spewed in front of him.

Maybe he was.

It really hurt.

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A cafeteria monitor had rushed in a little too late to see what the commotion was about, but in the middle of the confusion Naruto had managed to slip out without anyone noticing, only leaving behind the scent of rotting garbage in his wake.

Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru had not been so lucky. The trio of boys was given a detention for rough housing and knocking over the garbage can. Chouji's earlier detention had slipped by without notice, so he was able to escape a double detention.

While this was happening, Naruto had raced off. Scared that one of his so-called "friends" would follow him into the boy's bathroom, he opted to go to the nurse's office and use her private bathroom. He had taken off his jacket and shirt and was standing bare-chested in front of the mirror.

Naruto's teeth were chattering, but he wasn't the slight bit cold. There was a strange ache rising in his chest, like someone was slowly stacking stones, one by one, on his chest, making it hard to breath. He must have banged it against something, though Naruto had no memory of any such event except when Sasuke had pushed him.

"S-stop it," he stuttered out between the chatter of his teeth; if anything, his jaw moved faster, threatening to shatter his teeth. "STOP IT!" Naruto slammed his face against the mirror, looking into his own eyes. The chattering stopped but the heavy feeling in his chest remained. After awhile he cursed deeply.

"Just go back the way it was...don't think anymore. Don't think, don't think, don't think." He repeated the words over and over like a chant. It shouldn't be like this; he shouldn't care what they thought of him. Just because they played nice for a little while didn't really mean anything. Every kind word had been nothing but a lie, their opinions meant nothing to him, and they meant nothing to him. After a moment he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He gradually opened his eyes to see tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.

Naruto's screams coiled in the back of his throat, begging to be released, and he curled his fingers into a fist and felt his sharp nails bite his palms. It was impossible; he couldn't go back, not all the way.

The pain in his hand made Naruto look down at his fist with sudden interest. He glanced back at his reflection and was shocked to see his mirror-self with an ugly grin upon his lips. It was almost funny; he could even scare himself.

Somewhere in the back of Naruto's mind, he realized that if you can't go back to the way things were, then it's time to make some changes.

Naruto raised his fist, and drew it back at an angle that was directly in front of his reflected mouth. He paused to examine his own face, taking note of his blood-shot eyes and how his ugly whiskers seemed to grow longer so they touched the corner of his mouth and extended to his ear.

With sudden speed, Naruto's fist stuck the mirror and his reflection's face cracked and shattered around his fist.

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Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru spent an hour locked up in a classroom as a teacher marked some tests and occasionally looked up to make sure they weren't talking. By the end of the hour they were exhausted and ready to go home.

After stopping at their lockers, they walked side by side towards the school entrance. Sasuke paused for a moment and shuffled through the papers to make sure they hadn't forgotten any of Naruto's story. He then shoved it inside his backpack, not caring if the pages got wrinkled or bent. They made their way towards the gates, not noticing a figure hidden in the shadow of the wall.

Naruto sat on the ground, his back pressed against the school's wall, his arms folded on top of his knees, and stared down at his shoes, clicking them together in an offbeat rhythm. Naruto's eyes were trained intently on his feet; only when they approached did he look up. When they did not see him, Naruto waited until they were almost outside the gate before he stood up to follow them. When the sound of footsteps startled the three boys, they turned back to see Naruto only a few feet behind them with an ugly grin across his face.

Naruto said nothing as he stopped and examined them each with a cunning eye. His mouth twisted, but the smile never left. His hair was in tangles and there were smears of garbage on his jeans. He had removed the jacket, leaving his bare arms to fight against the gale of winds.

Naruto leaned back and shot his neck forward, at the same time letting out a huge ball of spit, right into Sasuke's eye.

Sasuke reeled back, not expecting the flying ball of mucus. He blindly stepped backwards crossing over the threshold of the school gate. That's when Naruto attacked.

He charged at the confused boy, slamming his head into Sasuke's stomach and pushing him farther away from the school. Sasuke tripped and began to descend towards the ground, but he held on to Naruto's shoulders and twisted so the blond boy would be forced to take the blunt of the fall. Naruto gritted his teeth as he was slammed between the pavement and Sasuke.

Sasuke raised his fist automatically, feeling the old stir of excitement whenever he was just about to hit the small boy. He was startled when a clenched fist struck him in the neck and then Naruto bucked so hard he was nearly thrown off the smaller boy. Sasuke froze when he really looked at him and saw he was struggling, and with one free hand trying desperately to hit him. Naruto was acting nothing like the emotionless boy he had once been; he was actually fighting back and, for whatever reason, Sasuke couldn't hit the angry boy. Naruto saw the pause and he didn't hesitate to use it to his advantage.

He hooked his legs around Sasuke's waist and rocked backwards using the momentum of their weight to do a backwards roll. Their positions were switched so Naruto was on top, except he didn't hesitate as Sasuke had.

Right away, Naruto punched him as hard as he could in the jaw. Sasuke's head snapped to the left, and Sasuke opened his mouth to call for help, but then Naruto sent another punch making Sasuke's head snap to the right. The right side of Sasuke's face was digging deeply into the dirt and he coughed as some of the dirt particles flew into his open mouth. Naruto grasped Sasuke's chin and lifted it so he was staring straight into his own eyes. Naruto's eyes were bright; and he gave Sasuke a toothy grin. Sasuke choked when he felt hands move downward to wrap around his neck and give him a light squeeze.

"You shouldn't go looking for a monster," Naruto leaned down to whisper, speaking for the first time, except it sounded more like an animal's growl than human language. He slightly increased his grip on Sasuke's neck, but not tight enough to close the air pipes. "I can find you all on my own."

Then faster than his eye could follow, Naruto struck him square on the nose. Sasuke's head fell back and hit the ground. Blood gushed out of his nostrils and into his mouth causing him to sputter and choke. He felt Naruto's weight lifted off him and raised his neck a few inches to locate the boy. In the corner off his eye he could see a flash of blond struggling against something. Sasuke wiped the blood and dust out of his eye and took a shallow breath, testing his air ways; he then began the long struggle of climbing to his feet.

Meanwhile, Chouji and Shikamaru had gotten over their initial shock and sprung into action. Chouji, spurred by the fear of seeing one of his friends choked to death, was the first to reach out and grab Naruto by the collar of his shirt, tearing him off of Sasuke.

Naruto jerked from his touch, the fabric ripped, and Naruto was forced to release Sasuke. He turned his sights on Chouji, who was holding him from behind with a hand on each of his wrists. Acting on lessons he had been taught, Naruto twisted his own arm around at a painful angle and, by ignoring the strain of his own muscles, he twisted and turned enough to free one of his hands. He brought it up high before smashing the bony point of his elbow into Chouji's mouth again and again until the boy was forced to release Naruto's other hand and fruitlessly try to protect his mouth.

Shikamaru reached from behind Naruto and grabbed hold of his elbow so he wouldn't further hurt Chouji. Naruto noticed Shikamaru's hand and reached with his own, bringing it up onto his shoulder and then bent his knees at a ninety degree angle. Chouji's eyes widen as he realized what Naruto was about to do, but he was too late to warn Shikamaru.

Naruto smirked as he grabbed Shikamaru by the wrist and easily tossed him over his shoulder just as he had done to Chouji the first time, except this time Chouji was standing directly in line with Shikamaru's flying body. He had no time to react as Shikamaru crashed into him, causing him to fall backwards as Shikamaru's heel smacked his forehead.

Chouji's head exploded with pain as he clutched his forehead, his eyes slid shut, and he let the pain overcome him. Shikamaru quickly climbed off him and started shaking Chouji by the shoulder. When his friend made no movements, he turned to Naruto with newfound anger. Shikamaru ran blindly at the boy, ready to cause serious pain, but Naruto just smiled as if amused by Shikamaru's anger.

Reaching inside his pocket, Naruto withdrew his hand that now seemed to be covered in red flakes. When the raging boy was close enough in range, he stepped towards Shikamaru fearlessly and ducked one of the boy's wild punches. Before the boy could attempt another attack; Naruto reacted by striking his own fist in Shikamaru's eye. The punch was soft, hitting his eye socket without causing any damage. For a second Shikamaru wondered if Naruto had felt a pang of regret, causing him to soften his punch.

That thought was proven false as Shikamaru's eye suddenly exploded in a fiery hot pain. He howled and clutched his burning eye, tears dripped off his chin as he tried to blink away whatever had gotten into his eye.

Naruto watched Shikamaru with a satisfied smile as he wiped the crushed red pepper flakes that he had stolen earlier on his pant leg. Naruto avoided touching his own eye, knowing the intense pain it would cause. He then stepped forward and grabbed Shikamaru by his shoulder; he drew back his arm and then slammed into the defenseless boy's stomach. The blind boy arched forward into Naruto's fist and spit flew from his lips as he collapsed on the ground as soon as Naruto relinquished his hold.

Naruto watched with indifferent eyes as Chouji lay on the ground holding his head and Shikamaru lay next to him, one hand clutching his stomach and the other desperately trying to rub out the flakes in his eye, but only making it worse. Knowing they weren't about to be getting up any time soon, Naruto turned to his last opponent.

Sasuke was holding on to the school gate, breathing heavily. He stared at Naruto with wide eyes, unable to believe that the boy was capable of hurting his first friends with no remorse. They locked eyes and Sasuke could see nothing but indifference as Naruto took quick, equal strides towards him, never pausing or breaking eye contact.

With a swift kick, Sasuke's feet were swiped from under him and he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He moaned as he felt a heavy object rest on his stomach. With bleary eyes he looked up to see Naruto standing over him with a foot on his stomach, holding him in place.

Sasuke, too weak to even struggle, just laid there as Naruto looked down on him with cold eyes. In a flash all the words written in the Uzumaki Chronicle came rushing back to him.

Naruto clawing through his mother's stomach in order to be born, the pregnant wife he had sweetly charmed and then pushed down a stairwell. The two boys he had tricked into crossing a heavily trafficked street, smiling as the boys were tossed in the air from the collision. The two loving parents who sacrificed themselves in order to save their own son, only to leave the boy scared and parentless. How Naruto had taken a rock and smashed it against a young teenager's kneecap until it was broken beyond repair. And finally, in the last chapter, stabbing a cop in the chest, completely destroying his left lung.

The author's last words of warning, warning the readers to beware, to stay away, and never trust the boy named Naruto.

Sasuke grunted as Naruto lowered himself down, pressing even more weight on the boy's already bruised abdomen.

As Naruto came closer, Sasuke closed his eyes in anticipation of the punch he was sure to come. But instead he felt a warm hand touch the back of his neck and lift the top half of his body off the ground. He risked opening his eyes and saw Naruto was much closer then he expected. He could even see the sweat glistening on Naruto's forehead.

Naruto didn't even look at Sasuke; he focused on pulling on the straps of Sasuke's backpack and sliding it out from under the boy. When the backpack was finally freed, Naruto stood up and unzipped it. He rummaged though the papers until he found what he was looking for. He slowly pulled out the story, and smoothed out the bent corners. He tossed Sasuke's backpack away, not caring that the items spilled out onto the ground.

Sasuke looked up from his uncomfortable position on the ground and watched Naruto run his thumb over the red writing and give a soft sigh until, finally, Naruto tore his eyes away from his story and looked Sasuke straight in the eye. They both were silent as their breaths mingled. Sasuke was mesmerized by Naruto's intense blue eyes and Naruto was studying Sasuke's face, trying to make a decision.

When Naruto spoke his voice was low and calm; it was nothing like the animalistic voice he had used easier, nor was it the voice that, over several weeks of friendship, Sasuke had grown used to.

"If being your friend means being reminded that I'm trash, then I'd rather be alone." Naruto spoke without a hint of regret. He stood up and took his foot off Sasuke, instead pinning him down with his piercing eyes. Naruto raised his foot up high and held it there hovering above the boy; he spoke again letting his anger slip in between his words. "But if you come near me again then I really will kill you."

With that, he brought the foot down and slammed in into the boy's unprotected stomach. Sasuke's eyes nearly popped out of his head, he wheezed and unconsciously curled into a fetal position to protect his stomach. Naruto observed him with slit eyes, coldly watching Sasuke gasp for air.

Then he turned around and walked away from gothic kid, and marched past the fat boy and the sobbing genius without even a passing glance.

The boy never turned around nor stopped. He walked down the street with the story that had started this whole mess, pressing it against his heart which was pounding so hard he was sure it would explode and kill him.

Things hadn't worked out exactly as he planned.

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The three boys laid there in front of the school gate, even after Naruto had disappeared behind a corner, and no one made the effort to speak. It was as if they had escaped death, and just the slightest noise would bring him back.

_-Hiccup-_

Shikamaru and Sasuke looked over to see Chouji awake and embarrassed as he tried to cover his mouth before another giant hiccup could escape

_-Hiccup-_

He tried to grin sheepishly but no one returned his fake smile. So Chouji lay back on the ground and tried to breathe in and out at a normal pace; he cursed as he felt another hiccup rising from his chest.

-_Hic_-

"**BOO!" **

A shadowed face towed over him blocking out the sky, the bloodshot eyes bulged out making, the man look twice as scary.

Sasuke and Shikamaru had both jumped from the yell and turned around expecting to see Naruto back to finish where he had left off. Instead they were greeted by Ibiki, who was still looking down on Chouji with a smirk on his lips.

"I think that boy just shit himself." The trio of beaten boys turned to the source of the voice. Anko walked out from behind the corner with a wild grin on her lips. She playfully smacked Ibiki on the shoulder before turning back and placing her thumb and pointer finger in her mouth and giving off a loud piercing whistle.

The boys winched and watched a van pull out from behind the corner; Sasuke quickly recognized it as the vehicle that had come to his house to pick up Naruto after the sleepover. Now that he was closer, he could see on the back bumper was a sticker that said:** My karma ran over my dogma.**

Sasuke swallowed dryly as the doors where wrenched open and out piled Iruka, Kakashi, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Asuma, Hayate, and Gai.

Tsunade made a beeline to Shikamaru, catching his hands and preventing him from rubbing his eyes any further, she soaked a cloth with water from a bottle and pressed it against his swollen eye instructing him to hold it there. She then moved on to Chouji and Sasuke checking for any serious damages.

Chouji let out a strangled yell when she pressed the cut on his knee; Tsunade just rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop your bawling; he didn't even really try."

Tsunade must have seen their looks of disbelief because she gave them a cocky grin and then began to rattle off.

"He's still a little sloppy with his left hooks and has no sense of surroundings when he really gets into it, but more importantly, you three have no broken bones or dislocated shoulders." She pressed two fingers against Sasuke's neck and checked for a pulse. "And you're still alive.

"If he wanted to really hurt you he could have done much worse." Tsunade gave them a knowing smile before frowning and turning to her companions. "And which one of you morons told him it was ok to fight with crushed red peppers?"

The men took a step away from the one other woman in the group and Anko gasped at their betrayal. "WHAT? Why do you automatically assume it's me?"

"Was it you?" Iruka asked out of politeness.

"Yes," Anko admitted while crossing her arms defiantly over her chest, "but you still shouldn't assume."

Kakashi shook his head with exasperation; he spoke slowly as if speaking to a disobedient child, which wasn't far from the truth. "We've talked about making sure Naruto understands the meaning of fighting fair."

"Since when are fights ever fair? Not every fight has a referee waiting to step in, and in case you didn't notice, it was three against one!"

"Enough!" Eardrums popped as Gai decided he had been silent for too long. He looked around pleadingly at his friends, not noticing they were all covering their ears as he spoke. "Friends, this is not why we have gathered here! We are not here to argue, but to check up on Naruto's safety and youth!"

As Kakashi tugged on his ear lobe, trying to ease the pain, he gratefully patted Gai's shoulder. "Thank you, Gai, let's get back to the main point."

Tsunade jumped in from the sidelines to throw a handful of colored papers at the boys. She stood back and smugly crossed her arms over her chest. "How do you explain this?"

The colored papers flew around them as Tsunade went on to explain. "I won 500 dollars from a one dollar lottery ticket! How do you explain that?"

Shikamaru raised his non-swollen eyebrow, knowing the chances of winning a lotto ticket was not only rare but highly unlikely, giving a small shrug he answered, "Um, luck?"

Jiraiya broke out in loud uncontrolled laughter, Tsunade glared at him, and everyone else tried to hide their own giggles behind a hand, not wanting to call on the woman's wrath. Jiraiya finally calmed down enough to speak. "Phht, this woman doesn't have luck; she has warning signs."

"When she starts winning, we start calling family members to make sure they're still alive," Asuma spoke up. He cupped his hand around a lighter and lit up his cigarette, taking deep breaths. He somehow managed to blow a smoke ring despite the cold wind blowing around them.

Tsunade ignored their jabs and started listing off on her hand. "I've won six scratch and wins, 3 dog races, and 15 coin tosses." She stopped as a thought suddenly crossed her mind. She tapped her chin and gave Jiraiya a sliding glance; oh, revenge was ever so sweet. "So that means any bet going on at this moment, I've pretty much won."

She spun around and pointed at Sasuke and with glee she shouted, "You love Naruto! And Naruto loves you!"

If Sasuke's jaw wasn't already sore from the beating it would have dropped open. That had to be the strangest love confession in all history. Forget the fact that Naruto had beaten the shit out of Sasuke only ten minutes earlier, this so-called "confession of love" wasn't even between the two boys in question.

Sasuke was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't realize his so-called "friends" had already accepted the fact that he was in love with Naruto and had now moved on to a different topic. Feeling slightly outted, in more ways than one, he tried to focus on what they were now discussing. Shikamaru was addressing Asuma, but the whole group was listening to him with a trace of amusement. "He stole the only evidence we had."

Asuma grinned around his cancer stick. "Now, technically you stole that from him, so it is probably more like retrieving a possession by his own terms. Besides, that's not the only copy; there are five others."

Sasuke jumped back into the conversation, eager to learn more. "Who has them?"

The members of the Jungle glanced at each other; they seemed to be asking something of everyone individually but no words were passed. After they had all given a slight nod, Gai cleared his voice and said, "We do, of course; after all, those are our lives in the book."

The boys were too shocked to speak, Hayate attempted to break the silence as he announced with a smile. "I was the one stabbed with a knife."

This seemed to help break the ice as someone else called out. "Yeah, and I was one of the boys hit by the car." Everyone stared at Kakashi who had his hand half raised. He sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. "Obviously, the one who lived."

"This is getting us nowhere! Maybe it would be best to retell our own stories, but where to start?" Gai wondered out loud and looked to his friends for reassurance.

Ibiki spoke up for the first time since his arrival. "I've always found the beginning a good spot."

"Okay, smartass, but then who's going to start it?" Tsunade bickered back, unafraid of the man because she knew he was only trying to ease the tension. No one really wanted to tell the truth, not if it meant reliving the past.

Iruka intervened and tried to make peace. "Kakashi, I think you have rights on the first 'killing by Naruto'."

Kakashi's eye closed with laughter as he held up his hands in mock horror. "No no, Naruto's mother was the first, then the baby, and then it's Obito's and my turn."

"Ah yes, you're right. My apologies, Asuma; I always seem to forget that." Asuma just waved him off with a smile.

"H-how can you be so casual about this? People have died and you're making jokes about it!" The group of laughing adults lost their smiles and turned to Chouji. He stared up at them with anger and disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"We're human, that's what's wrong." Everyone turned to Anko, who was glaring at Chouji. Suddenly, he didn't feel very brave; in fact he was feeling very stupid at the moment. Anko continued to speak for the rest of her friends.

"Of course it hurts to talk about them, hell, it even hurts to think about them. But you know what? I don't want to cry, and I don't think they would want me crying over their deaths, so we laugh and deal with it in our own ways, even if that makes us seem like jackasses."

Anko stopped and breathed out, trying to calm down. She opened her eyes and fixed the boys with a mighty glare. "So tell me what was so fucked up in your life that you had to take it out on Naruto?"

"W-what?"

Anko snorted at their innocent tone and Iruka gave her a warning look, letting her know he didn't approve of her cursing in front of the boys. Kakashi took control of the situation, knowing Anko was about lose her cool and start really hammering down on the boys.

With a calm gaze, Kakashi spoke in a monotone voice. "Don't play dumb; we knew. Do you think no one would notice the bruises and black eyes? Sure, they disappeared in a day or two, but it was obvious someone was bullying him, and I'm just curious why you chose Naruto to take your problems out on."

"I- he was just always-" Sasuke stuttered, trying to come up with a passable answer. He knew lying was out of the question, but under the pressure of Kakashi's eye, he was unable to remember why they had taken such a fixation on hurting the emotionless boy. Defeated, Sasuke finally shouted. "I don't know! I don't know why him!"

Sasuke was surprised when he felt a slight pat on the head, much like a dog would receive. Despite his fear, Sasuke glared at Kakashi, who was smiling underneath his mask. "Don't get your panties in a bunch, kid. Hell, not like I can say I didn't do the exact same shit to him, but at least I gave back what I took from him."

Sasuke wondered what the crazy man meant by that and he opened his mouth to speak, but someone else got there first.

"You can't blame us for wanting to know more." They turned to see Chouji staring at the ground; he was watching at a tiny moth that had climbed his shoelace, but instead of swatting it away, Chouji held still and allowed the moth to rest and flap it's wings. He spoke without looking away from the small creature. "Believe me; I've tried to find out more on my own. I searched the entire internet, and there's nothing on Naruto Uzumaki."

"Well, there won't be; that's not his real name." Chouji's head snapped up, unaware that his movement caused the tiny moth to fly away. Jiraiya kept his eyes on the moth, watching it struggle against the winds. Unexpectedly, he cupped his hand around the poor insect and drew it close to his body. "His real name is Naruto Namikaze, but there was so much paparazzo at the time that it was decided it would be much better to take his mother's last name."

"I'll start, I knew him before any of you." No one dared to argue, not even Tsunade. She watched the man she considered her best friend lower his hand and try to force the moth to climb off of him despite its attempts to cling onto its source of warmth.

Sasuke stared at the large man who was battling against the persistent bug. "Wait, who you talking about now? You mean Naruto, right?"

With a sigh Jiraiya gave up and allowed the moth to remain on his hand. Slowly, he began to remember the face he had mentally pushed away every time Naruto had looked at him with those crinkled eyes and huge smile.

"No, I'm talking about the author of this book, Minato Namikaze. Naruto's real father."

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_six years ago_

At the tender age of seven, Naruto had three huge secrets that he kept hidden behind his endless smiles and pranks on the social workers at his orphanage.

The first secret was that he had snuck a red crayon inside his room. Now, to others this may not be recognized as a secret, but for Naruto it was one of his greatest accomplishments. Markers and colored pencils had been banned from taking into the bedrooms, in case some child had an artistic impulse and decided to draw all over the walls. So stealing one of the crayons and successfully hiding it his room had become a great accomplishment for little Naruto.

The second secret was one that Naruto would never admit out loud; he was afraid of the monsters living under his bed. True, he had never seen one himself, but the stupid Ebisu told him a story about how naughty boys who misbehave were eaten by the monsters that lived under the beds. Ever since that day Naruto was very careful when he climbed up on his bed, making sure not to bounce around too much or else the monster would wake up. Of course, this didn't stop him from playing pranks on the social workers. He figured if the monster hadn't eaten him by now, then he was pretty much safe.

And lastly, the granddaddy secret of them all, Naruto was the one and only kid in the entire orphanage that still had a father.

This was the one thing that kept Naruto going: the knowledge that somewhere outside the tall walls of the orphanage there was someone he could call Dad.

That was the real reason Naruto didn't care when a couple came in and adopted someone half his age; every time a kid went home with a new family Naruto would just have to remind himself that his real father was out there somewhere and one day he would take him far away to where the real families lived.

After making sure the door was closed tightly, Naruto jumped on top of his bed quietly so as not to disturb the monster from his slumber. He reached under the fold of his blanket and retrieved his father's one and only gift.

A story, written just for Naruto.

When he was given the story two weeks ago the worker mentioned that his name was on it. Too excited to speak, Naruto had run out of the room to examine every word wondering which one was his. When Naruto reached the back and found the newspaper clippings with four faces smiling at him, he pondered long and hard on who they might be. Finally, he decided they must be some sort of relative. His father must have put them there in order to show Naruto that there were others waiting for him back home.

Taking out the red crayon from inside his shirt, Naruto began doing the one thing that made complete sense to any seven year old: he began to draw on the story. Naruto tried to relax his hold on the crayon, reminding himself that he had practiced a million times on other papers; just concentrate and don't mess up.

The first one was easy; two slash lines up connected by two slash lines down.

**M**

Next a circle, Naruto held the red crayon tightly in his little fist

**O**

This one was sort of hard; it was similar to the first letter except it was missing the second slash down.

**N**

Naruto brightened at the next letter; it was his favorite one to draw, plus it was really easy to remember because it looked like a snake.

**S**

The creak of an old floorboard made Naruto stop and look suspiciously at the door, he then looked down wondering if a monster was still hiding down there. He was never sure, because no matter how much the workers yelled at him, he would never clean out from under the bed and there was no way he'd ever climb underneath and look for it.

**T**

As he drew towards the end, Naruto had a cute smile on his face as he imagined his dad walking into the orphanage. Of course he would immediately recognizing Naruto from all the other kids. Then Naruto would show him his handwriting, and his father would beam with pride. Maybe he would lift little Naruto on his shoulders and would yell at the workers saying he was taking his son home and they all can go to H-E- double hockey stick!

**E**

The last letter was drawn a little shakily but Naruto didn't care; to him it was perfect.

**R**

He held the story up at eye level and examined his work right next to his father's writing; he couldn't wait for school to start. Then he could actually read what his father had written for him.

A warmth filled Naruto's chest. His father wrote this for him, his father was alive and loved him. One day he was going to come for him and take him to where the real families lived, but for now Naruto would have to be patient and wait for him.

He hugged the papers close to his chest and breathed in the crisp smell of paper, his little heart pounding excitedly.

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**Hmm maybe I should change the story back to angst…naaah I had a lot of fun writing the fight scene, I also liked how things are finally coming together that took a hell of a long time! Truthfully I might have went a little too far with punching peppers flacks in Shikamaru's eye but hey if you think it's too violent then don't do it to someone, problem solved. The jungle characters were fun to write, trick question; I said there were 5 other copies of the story but there are 9 members of the jungle there….who has them??**

**Anyway I was getting sick of the fluffy boring stuff, not to say making them bond wasn't fun but I've been waiting to do this chapter for a while. I hate when people write Naruto as this weak little boy who can't throw a punch and needs saven by big strong Sasuke, that ain't how I roll, I think its bad ass when Naruto, the underdog, come out as the strongest one.**

**oh and I had a great time reading the answer some of you guys sent about the items from last chapter, most of them were way off, anyone dare to try again?**

**Ok, I've done my part and I really need a break, there's a party tonight at a sorority's house trying to get freshman to pledge HA yeah right like I need to be told how to dress, who my friends are, and where to go all the time! but if u play along then they stop serving u piss-water and start passing out the good shit!**

**My roommates went home for the weekend but she said she gunna smuggle bunny rabbits into out dorm (we have a no pets policy which is stupid so we chose to ignore it) personally id rather have a ferret, since I was a kid I have a soft spot for them but she says someone will defiantly notice it. She also told me that i talk in my sleep, which is not a good thing. I need to figure out a way to stop that fast cuz i dont need my roommate worring like that.**

**So even though im glad to finally be out of my asshole town, I still miss my pals back home, they're really amazing friends, especially Kate. I've never felt so close to some people, but when it comes to them they're like the friends who became family. I mean so far I've made shallow friendships here, people that I hang out with but don't really feel close too. Maybe I should just join a club, I heard they have a boxing team here, that could be interesting but I have a feeling I'll get kicked out if I try my style of fighting, plus its probably impossible to carry peppers flakes in that glove. **

**peace**

**sam**


	15. The Truth about the Truth

**Hey guys remember me? Author of sticks and stones? Procrastinator extraordinaire? Yeah a lot of shits been happening but at the same time I know you guys enjoy reading this so I should have tried a bit harder**

**Look, I'm sorry for the long wait, I'm a slow writer to begin with but add the distractions of life and well….I'm sorry. For what it's worth, this is by far the longest chapter I've ever written so I hope that makes up for it. And in my defense its not like I'm sitting here thinking 'ha screw them! I won't write for months! Mwahaaa that will make them want me!'….thou I'm sure there are writers out there that do that….**

**Guess what! I made a friend at college who writes for (yaoi) fanfiction too! Her accounts ****Silent Dagger**** and right now she writing a death note story called '****In Paridisum'**** if you like the obvious sexual tension between Light and L please check out her story! Plus she half the reason I finished this chapter….she wrote 15 chapter in two months…it took me two years to write 15 chapter!!! I'm a little jealous/competitive.**

**Also she drew me a very cool picture of Naruto in the dumpster (I don't know how to upload it on a computer but it's still amazing!) furthermore, if anyone likes roleplaying you should defiantly check out her profile and find the link to her site (I'm there too )**

**Ok, last big announcement for me….. WE'RE GOING TO AN ANIME-CON !!! **

**I'm going as Naruto and she's going as L! Odd combination huh?? Still its going to be so funny protecting her from fangirls and Light cosplayers with handcuffs! I'm so freaken excited I can't wait!!!! She already has her L costume all set up, but I'll probably going to make mine out of an orange jacket or something….anyway if you're interested I'll try to put up some pictures on my profile. **

**Ok no more about me, you came to read the story!!**

**As always, a huge thanks to my beta angstkitten ****and her sister ****(who actually contacted me asking where the next chapter is…you know you're in a lot trouble when your beta starts emailing you for the chapter) And also thank you for emailing a random ramble of singing 'you are my sunshine'**

**Much-o love for fanart by punky 4 you. (as always the link is at the bottom of my profile) it's a really great COLORED picture of Naruto and Sasuke 'playing airplane' please check it out and leave some pretty comments **

**Someone made a very good point in a review, they asked why the members of the jungle would let Naruto get beaten up if they're so protective of him…..well fuck I didn't think that's far ahead! In fact as you read on, you'll see that none of my ideas were well thought out but if I was really lazy I could have just said Naruto did kill them all and that would really make no sense, besides it's fiction people…you'll live**

**Now I shall present-THE CHAPTER THAT REFUSED TO BE WRITEN!!!**

**enjoy

* * *

**

**Sticks and Stones**

**Chapter 15-The Truth about the Truth**

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_Father of mine_

_Tell me where did you go_

_You had the world inside your hand_

_But you did not seem to know_

_Father of mine_

_Tell me what do you see_

_When you look back at your wasted life_

_And you don't see me_

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_three years ago_

One hour remained.

Sixty minutes till he came back from school.

Three thousand six-hundred more seconds of peace left inside The Jungle.

Gai sighed and tipped backward in his chair. He inwardly laughed at the irony; a ten year old boy was able to break what little peace was found inside a building for cage fight.

It had become a routine these days, ever since that boy manipulated Iruka into letting him live in The Jungle. Gai would wait until three o'clock and leave before the boy reached the building. Usually he would go for a run or do something that would blow off a lot of steam. The less he saw that monster the better it was for everyone.

Gai shut his eyes momentarily and concentrated on the soft ticking of the minute hand. In a daze, he felt the floor vibrate as someone pulled a chair next to him and sat down with a huff. Without even opening his eyes he already knew who it was; who else would make such a dramatic entrance?

He opened his eyes and glanced at Anko, who was tapping her empty glass against the counter for his attention. "So what's the deal? My kid not good enough for you to teach?"

Gai grunted and looked away. Anko had been bugging everyone for weeks to teach her new pet and slowly everyone has succumbed to the boy. Now he was the only one left who refused to have anything to do with the monster.

"He is not my student; I see no reason why I should teach him anything."

Gai looked back at the clock and noticed the minute hand had crept past the five minute marker. A heavy cough brought Gai's attention away from the clock as he watched Hayate take a seat beside him. The man opened his mouth to speak but all that came out were a series of harsh coughs. Gai whacked the man on his back, trying to subdue the coughing attacks.

Hayate lifted a hand up and spoke quickly between coughs. "You're being a dumbass."

Gai drew back his hand in shock; from behind him Anko's smirk widened as she mentally cheered Hayate on. "It wasn't Naruto; you know that but you still hate him. That makes you a dumbass."

One of Gai's huge eyebrows twitched and he looked back up at the clock with new determination, it was two thirteen.

"Do you ever feel guilty?"

Gai's eyes snapped back to his friend. "What are you implying? Guilty of what? You think I should have been there and stopped him from getting shot?"

"I'm not talking about Lee," Hayate responded casually. Gai sucked in a harsh breath and blew it out from his nose. "Even I harbor some anger towards him but I've always known it was never Naruto's fault. But I never visited him at the orphanage. We are the only frail bonds that boy had with the outside world; would it have been so hard to step out of my own self pity and visited him?"

Gai said nothing. Everyone kept giving him these long, fake speeches, but they rarely affected him. On the other hand, Anko was gripping her shot glass so tightly it was beginning to splinter on the edges. Without a word Anko got up and left the bar counter.

The two men watched Anko storm away, knocking over a chair and in the process dropped her shot glass without a care. It broke and tiny glass shards ran across the floors.

Hayate sighed and looked back to Gai. "Don't forget I was the only one who saw him, there's nothing wrong with my memory and no made-up story is going to make me forget who's really responsible." He patted Gai's shoulder before standing up and chasing after the pissed off woman. Gai rolled his eyes and went back to watching the clock with dull interest as the seconds ticked by.

Gai sighed and looked up at the clock and noted it was two twenty-two; he closed his eyes again and was lured into the soft ticking.

It took a second for the sound of the door opening and closing to connect in Gai's head. His neck cracked painfully as he snapped up and stared at the intruder.

Scuffed up shoes crunched on Anko's broken glass causing the boy to freeze and glance around the floor. His orange jacket was zipped up to his chin and the hoodie cast shadows that hid his face from sight.

"You!" Gai shouted without thinking. Naruto looked up with startled eyes and took a half a step back. "What are you doing here an hour early?"

Naruto recomposed himself and grabbed the two drawstrings of his hoodie and pulled it tighter around his face. He rocked back on his heels and answered the man softly. "School let out at three, and it takes me a half hour to walk here."

Gai was not fooled by his shy voice, the fact that the boy openly lied to him only fueled his disgust for the boy. "I hate liars; I can see the clock from here. It's only two o'clock."

"Today's day light savings, you're supposed to move the clock ahead one hour," Naruto snapped back, no longer being polite. Gai grew flustered and his stomach twisted uncomfortably; his fingers twitched and he brought them into a tight fist.

Naruto tilted his head to stare at Gai's hand before bending down to pick up his backpack. His movement caused the top of his hoodie to fall backwards exposing his busted lip and what was the beginning of a shiner.

Gai stared at the marks on the boy until Naruto turned around and started walking towards the stairs; he called back over his shoulder. "Well, if you see Iruka, can you tell him I'll be in our room?"

The last couple of weeks Naruto had been sharing an apartment with Iruka and Kakashi.

"Boy, have you been getting into fights?" Gai had no idea what possessed him to call back to the boy, but he did feel some sick form of happiness when Naruto tensed up.

Naruto pulled his hood back up to cover his face before awkwardly turning around to face the smirking man. "I don't start them."

Gai knew this would happen; this is why he had protested when Anko demanded the members of The Jungle to teach the boy how to fight. Did they truly believe the boy would accept the tricks and then turn the other cheek during a fight?

Of course he would use his new knowledge to cause misery to some unfortunate child.

Gai pitied the poor being and was happy the victim had managed to bruise Naruto up a bit. "But I bet you end them don't you? I told them not to teach trash like you how to fight."

"DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT!" Naruto's voice caused the whiskey bottles on the shelves to rattle and teeter close to the edge. The hoodie had fallen down again, exposing Naruto's angry face, and Gai swore the markings on the monsters face grew in length. Even so, Naruto's next words threw Gai off balance. "It's really easy to blame a kid!"

Gai said nothing as Naruto took a menacing step forward. "You think just because you're older it means you're always right; it's my fault isn't it! You're just so perfect that you're never to blame! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! You're all the same!"

Gai finally regained his use of tongue and immediately tried to retaliate. "How dare you! I won't have a kid like you talk down to me!"

"A kid like me?" Naruto's eyes lightened and he threw back his head to laugh. "Oh, that's funny, because to me you're nothing but a big kid! A big, stupid, hairy eyebrow, overgrown kid with no one to yell at you when you mess up!"

Gai's arms were moved as if they were a separate part of his body. Only when his fist were seconds away from hitting Naruto's scrunched up face did Gai react and stop the punch from hitting it's mark.

Even so, Naruto stumbled backwards to avoid the punch. He was able to stabilize himself by grabbing a spare chair. He quickly maneuvered the chair in front of him and used it was a barrier between himself and Gai.

"Go ahead! Blame me for everything, see if I care. I don't need acceptance from an overgrown kid. I don't care if you don't like me, if you glare at me, or if you never say my real name out loud." Naruto was breathing heavily as he practically spit the words up into Gai's angry face. "But don't you dare call me trash because I swear that it will be your last word."

"Is that so Naruto? Then maybe we should make a little bet." The new cheerful voice pieced through the intense atmosphere. Naruto and Gai spun around to see Tsunade leaning against the doorway with a smile on her face and a shot of peppermint snaps in her hand.

Tsunade smirked as she walked up to them and with her pointer finger tapped Naruto on the forehead forcing him to take a step back.

"You say you can win a fight against Gai but I want to know if you can actually back up your own words." Her honey colored eyes glowed with amusement.

Naruto eyed her before glancing over at Gai. For a moment all logical thoughts left Gai as he realized a ten year old was sizing him up. Unable to resist the temptation, Gai silently mouthed the word 'trash' at the small boy.

Naruto's eyes widen for a moment before narrowing dangerously, without taking his eyes off Gai Naruto answered back without a shred of fear.

"I'm not scared of him and I never go back on my words!"

Gai's face hardened at the small boy's arrogant tone, but before he had a chance to respond, Tsunade gracefully cut in. "Then you agree? You'll fight against Gai?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes never leaving Gai. Tsunade continued to talk while mentally estimating how much money this fight would bring in. "Of course there will be terms and conditions. If you do happen to win, what do you want as a prize?"

Naruto's sharp eyes left Gai and he stared up at Tsunade with a confused look. He absently licked his lips and one hand rose to touch the small bruise forming on his eye socket. A small smile suddenly graced his lips and he looked back up with such determination it startled Tsunade and Gai.

"I want my own room!"

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_three years later_

Tsunade pressed a tissue into Sasuke's hand and forced him to pinch the bridge of his nose; she leaned back and whistled at the bloody piece of work in front of her. "Man, he really did a number on you."

Sasuke glared from under the tissue and leaned his head against the car seat.

They had moved their little party off the streets and now were sprawled out inside the van. Sasuke sat on the floor with his head resting on the seat and feet dangling out the open door. Chouji lay out on the seat and was slowly massaging the growing ache in his head.

Shikamaru was sitting outside the van on the curb; he had a wet tissue in one hand and a water bottle in the other. He switched from dapping his red eye with the wet tissue to dousing it with water. Every few minutes he would glance up to see how Chouji was faring. The fact that it was his shoe that hurt his friend caused him endless guilt.

The members of The Jungle were outside the van talking amongst themselves while Tsunade took care of the boys.

She eyed Sasuke with a smirk and moved Sasuke's hand higher to stop the blood flow. After living with a pervert like Jiraiya for so long, taking care of nosebleeds was almost second nature for her. "I'm pretty sure he did that on purpose, hitting directly on the nose will give you two black eyes."

"What!" Sasuke's head snapped forward causing a dizzy wave to wash over him; he leaned back and tried to ignore the woman's irritating laughter.

Tsunade mentally scanned the three boys before calling out to her old college friend, "Jiraiya, I think they'll live; you can start now if you're ready." She meant the last statement; fixing up the boys cuts was a lame excuse in order to bide more time for her friend. Sure they needed to be patched up but despite Jiraiya readiness she knew he needed to think over what he was going to say, especially when their other friends were going to hear it as well.

Jiraiya clapped his hands together and stood up from his squat position.

His friends immediately stopped talking and gave him their full attention. "So you read the book right? Well, there are a couple of key elements left out."

Sasuke raised his head off the seat and looked up from his position; Chouji sat up as well and turn to face forward.

"You can't always trust a book to tell you the entire story; it's always a one-sided tale.

"Minato," all of the adults winched at the same time and Jiraiya pretended not to notice, "was a student of mine, back when I used to teach Creative Writing in college. He was a good man who showed real potential, always coming up with ideas that had never been tried before. He had this unbelievable talent with twisting words around."

Jiraiya stopped for a moment and chuckled lightly. "Naruto shares that trait, but he'd probably hate it if I told him that.

"Minato was my prized student; he shared his life with me and talked about his hopes and ambitions." Jiraiya sighed and sat down, he had overestimated himself. There was no way he could talk about Minato without feeling the full burden on his shoulders, that's just the way it was. "But what he talked about the most was his wife Kushina.

"When he found out she was pregnant you would have thought the man had won the lottery. I know some here will disagree, but I think if the situation was different Minato would have been a great father." The others looked away from Jiraiya's painful smile; the truth hurts.

"The first trimester, he even started writing a children's book, solely for Naruto and no one else. The book was supposed to be about Naruto and his adventures as a ninja, really cute stuff, not something I'd ever expect from him."

The light smile disappeared as Jiraiya stared down at his own hands. He sighed, looked up, and stared directly at Sasuke who flinched under the intense gaze. "That cute story about Naruto being a ninja eventually became what you read."

Chouji climbed out of the van and took a seat beside Shikamaru. They directed all their attention to Jiraiya, waiting for him to continue.

"Kushina never seemed excited about the pregnancy. Personally, I thought it was all that fake hormonal crap women always talk about. She had her reasons I suppose; we all do when it comes to keeping secrets."

Tsunade seemed to be seething over the hormonal comment but Jiraiya continued without even noticing.

"What we didn't know was that when Kushina thirteen she had ovarian cancer; that's where a tumor grows on or around a women's ovaries. She almost died and had to go though lots of treatment, but it ruined her baby making system."

The three boys stared at Jiraiya in disbelief; this was a completely different story from what they had previously read. Sasuke looked down as the words from the book came back to him.

"The demon child burst though his mother's stomach, clawing his way into reality."

He was shocked when Jiraiya gave a slight laugh; Sasuke was unaware he had spoken out loud. "Burst though her stomach huh? Well, I'm no doctor but I believe the technical term for that is a Cesarean. Kushina was already dead at that point, so they had to cut Naruto out."

A sinister voice weaved its way in between Jiraiya's tale; everyone was shocked when they realized it was Iruka. "She should have told him, or at least given him some kind of warning."

Seeing their looks of surprise, Iruka breathed in deeply trying to calm himself down. "She was going to die no matter what; maybe if he had known then he wouldn't have g-."

Jiraiya suddenly interrupted Iruka. "The chances of her living though a pregnancy were very slim." The two men stared at each other; hostile air between them grew heavy. "The point is she took that chance."

Iruka looked away but Jiraiya kept a steady glare at the teacher, with anger evident in his voice he spoke directly to Iruka. "I talked to Minato; he told me the whole story before he ever wrote it down, before any of you even touched the paper."

He looked around and slowly met each of his friends' eyes, and they held his gaze unwavering. "And I know none of you would believe this, but he was completely sane when we talked. No drooling idiot, nor rambling fool, just my former student trying to explain rationally that his son was evil."

Jiraiya sighed and placed his head into his hands, his friends' angry gazes wilted as they watched him fall apart. From between his finger Jiraiya spoke, "You know, before Naruto moved in with us life was much easier"

Tsunade responded by punching the old man on head. Jiraiya clutched his abused head and shouted, "Woman! I said easier not better! Seeing Minato's face everyday nearly killed me."

The knock to the head seemed to pull Jiraiya out of his slump. He squared his shoulders and grinned at the boys. "Well that's my side of the story! If you have any more questions about me please know I don't give a shit."

Jiraiya managed to disperse the tense atmosphere as his friends chuckled at the lame joke.

Anko felt a tug on her sleeve near the end of Jiraiya's story. She looked up to see Ibiki, who jerked his head to the side. Anko, who was cursed by curiosity, responded by following her friend behind the van.

Once they were out of sight, Ibiki turned and announced quite harshly, "We should leave."

"WHAT!" Anko roared. Ibiki quickly covered her mouth, but she just bit away the fingers and grabbed Ibiki's collar so she could whisper,

"No, I'm staying here. No way am I leaving before I get my chance with those mini-punks!"

Ibiki seemed unaffected by her response as he untangled her death grip on his shirt and he answered as calmly as possible. "Naruto may be home, we should be there so he's not alone."

Anko narrowed her eyes at his weak excuse. "Izumo and Kotetsu are home, plus you know that kid won't come near us when he's on the stupid guilt trip."

Having said that, she purposely bumped shoulders with him and started back to the group, but Ibiki's next words stopped her.

"We all have our stories to tell, but we are not a part of Naruto's past."

Anko's lips twisted with a grimace, knowing she was trapped, but all those years waiting for the right moment to come had taken a toll on her.

"You're wrong. I am a part of the story; just because my life is not written doesn't mean what happened that day didn't affect me. In fact, I'm the left out detail that proves Naruto is not a monster." Ibiki opened his mouth to argue but Anko quickly cut him off.

"You made me a promise you'd catch him." Ibiki went from neutral to hurtful in two seconds. Anko winced, hating that she had to use that against him, but it was the only way he'd let her stay. "It's been thirteen years and he's still out there, Ibiki." This was low, even for her. Anko always tried to steer away from this topic in hopes of sparing her friend's feelings. Not many things got to him but she knew the bond that connected them laid in a promise that Ibiki had failed to keep.

"I will catch him. Right now I don't have enough evidence to press charges against him. Even with you as a witness it would be hard to convince a judge due to your…" Despite the situation, Anko couldn't help but smile when Ibiki paused and added with much caution, "colorful background."

"I need to stay, Ibiki. There's one more part to the story no one has heard and I've been waiting for too long."

Ibiki said nothing. He stared at a point beyond Anko's shoulder and it took her a second to realize this. She swiftly turned around, expecting to see one of the brats sneaking up behind her.

Instead she found herself facing one of Naruto's posters for same-sex marriage, nailed onto a telephone pole. But what caught her attention was not Naruto's petition, but what someone had written over it with black marker.

**A.I.D.S CURES HOMOSEXUALS**

Ibiki reached across, abruptly ripped it off the pole, and crumpled it up into a tight ball. "That's a horrible thing to write." He then stuffed it inside his coat pocket.

Ibiki then turned around and headed back to join the members of The Jungle.

Anko followed silently, knowing he approved of her being there. On arrival they saw that Asuma had already begun his part of the story. They silently slipped in without anyone noticing.

Asuma was playing with a cigarette, tapping one against his knee. He absently scratched his smartly trimmed beard before putting the cigarette in between his lips. "Kurenai and I weren't really married. When I found out she was pregnant, though, I ran out and bought her a ring.

"I quit smoking the next day; it's bad for the baby." Everyone resisted rolling their eyes as Asuma contradicted his words and lit his cigarette.

"Kurenai teased me because she thought I'd never make it though a week let alone nine months without a nicotine fix. When she realized I was serious, she bought me one of those big cigars with writing on it. I never could tell if she was teasing me with it or using it as encouragement.

"Coincidently, Naruto and my son were going to be born the same day, but when we arrived, Naruto had already been born. The nurses had Kurenai walking a little to release the pains and I was talking to the doctor to make sure everything was set."

At this point, Asuma lost his smile and was staring at his cigarette watching the embers burn away the thin paper. "She told me it was an accident, that at the last second Minato reached out and tried to grab her hand.

"There was no way of telling if she was pushed or it was truly and accident, but the fact is she fell down a flight of stairs and landed on her stomach."

Asuma crushed the remains of the cigarette into the ground and began to take out his pack to relight another one. "She lived but the fall killed my son.

"Things weren't the same after that; we fought more, argued about stupid, meaningless things. I pushed her to try again, but she couldn't get over her first child's death."

The cigarette remained unlit as he twirled it between his fingertips.

"Eventually she gave me back the ring and left."

Taking a shaky breath, Asuma reached into his pocket and lit up the cigarette. He breathed in the musky tobacco and held it inside his chest until he felt the need to cry evaporate; only then did he release the smoke from his lungs in one long exhale.

"Minato," the name came out like a hiss as Asuma took another drag from his cigarette, "managed to leave while Kurenai was in surgery. No one tried to stop him because there were no witnesses to what really happened.

"On the other hand I did keep my promise. I stopped smoking cigars, but I need a cigarette once and a while." He sent Tsunade a charming grin. "A much healthier choice won't you say?"

Tsunade eyed the slow burning cigarette and snorted. "Barely! Why couldn't you have a non-cancer related habit, like biting nails or an addiction to sudoku?"

"I am a hemophilia." The voice came out of nowhere and spooked everyone. They turned to see Kakashi leaning against the van, and he stared up at the sky and began to speak.

"Hemophilia is a hereditary disease that prevents a person's blood from clotting properly. In other words, if I were to get cut there would be no way for the bleeding to stop. It doesn't help that I have a rare blood type."

It took a second for the three boys to comprehend the meaning of Kakashi's words. Sasuke felt a memory stir in the back of his head; Iruka was freaking out over a little blood and automatically assumed it was Kakashi's. Sasuke shook his head to clear his thoughts and paid close attention to what Kakashi was saying.

"Nowadays there are new medicines, but back then all I could hope for was a nearby hospital."

Kakashi fingered the bandage covering his eye; he rubbed the soft cloth and continued on. "My father died from it when I was young and my mother became overprotective of me. She was always scared I would fall down and hurt myself, so she arranged an agreement with my neighbor so there would always be someone there in case I ever got hurt. That's where Obito came in."

A line appeared on the mask right where Kakashi mouth was; his next words held a certain fondness. "He was this annoying brat who'd follow me around under his mother's orders. He said it was his duty to protect me, but most of the time it ended up with me saving his clumsy ass."

The line on the mask suddenly disappeared and Kakashi was silent for a long moment. "That day, October 10, Obito and I were walking home from school just like always, when a car came out of nowhere. Obito saw it before me and, being the dumb hero, he tried to push me out of the way, knowing I'd be more harmed."

The hand touching the eye patch suddenly twitched and rubbed harder against the eye. "I got away with a few scratches and a cut over my eye but that was enough to make me pass out from the blood loss. Obito was much worse off. The car had hit him straight on and never even stopped. Obito was crushed under the tires, but still alive."

Kakashi's voice, which had started off strong in the beginning, was now beginning to weaken. The words rested heavily against Kakashi's tongue and he struggled to speak. "He died in the ambulance. I wasn't even awake, but I found out later what the idiot did.

"Obito told the ambulance core that we were the same blood type, and that they should transfer his blood into mine before I died. He told them he was dying anyway but they could still save me." Iruka had silently taken a step closer to his boyfriend, letting the hair on their arms barely brush. Kakashi seem to collect himself and let out a soft sigh.

For the first time he looked at the trio of boys staring up at him and gave them a small smile hidden under the mask. "Stupid moron never even told me we were the same blood type."

Jiraiya shifted uncomfortably from his spot and Kakashi sent him a nod of acknowledgment before turning his attention back to the boys. "The car that hit us was Minato with Naruto in the backseat. He was speeding out of the hospital because of Asuma's baby. Minato never even bothered to stop."

Iruka took a step closer to Kakashi and allowed his thumb to gently brush over his lover's palm. Without moving his head, Kakashi glanced over and gave Iruka's hand a reassuring squeeze and mumbled softly.

"Your turn."

During their tale each adult had stood tall looking down at the three boys, but Iruka was far more experienced in dealing with kids. Releasing Kakashi's hand, Iruka took a seat next to Sasuke and faced Chouji and Shikamaru sitting in the van.

Iruka gave Sasuke a kind smile that made the boy's stomach churn with guilt.

"Minato and Kushina actually met through my parent's wedding. They were best man and bridesmaid. So when they found out that Kushina was pregnant they immediately asked my parents to be the god parents."

Iruka settled back on his hands and leaned back to stretch. "I don't remember much about that day. I remember the moments up to it where my parents were cleaning up the house getting ready for Naruto's arrival."

"There are so many blank spaces in my mind." Iruka's smile was slowly shrinking and he scrunched up his nose. "But I do remember my parent's bodies laying on the ground and Minato standing above them holding a knife and a baby crying in the background.

"That's all I can remember, but ever since that day I've had this scar across my nose." He tapped the scar with what Sasuke would describe as certain fondness. "Minato gave Naruto scars; he must have been past the point of sanity by then."

For some unknown reason, Sasuke had an urge to prove he too knew a little about his friend. "I've seen them, the scars on Naruto's stomach."

Chouji turn to Sasuke with a small frown on his lips. "What's on his stomach? Like the lines on his cheeks?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No, his stomach is like a weird design. It looks a tattoo more than anything else."

"When exactly did you see his stomach?" asked a snickering Tsunade before Jiraiya crushed his heel on her toes. Tsunade showed no sign of discomfort and remained smiling.

Iruka looked back to Kakashi, who gave him a slight nod of assurance. He turned back to Sasuke and said quietly. "After Minato killed my parents he escaped through the fire escape. From what I understand, Minato hid Naruto somewhere and it took a long time for anyone to find him. When he finally received medical attention an infection had already set in."

A voice cleared above him and Sasuke looked up to see Anko standing awkwardly against the telephone pole. When Anko noticed Sasuke looking at her, she opened her mouth before closing it sharply with a click. She nodded in Iruka's direction and Sasuke quickly focused all his attention on the man.

"I have to say the infection helped him more than anything else. His immune system is amazing. I've seen him come home with a black eye and wake up the next morning with flawless skin."

"Combined that with is fighting ability, he's physically indestructible," Tsunade commented with a small smile. "Bet he gave you boys a run for your money when you first met him."

The adults looked surprised as Chouji shook his head. "Naruto never tried to hurt us. He'd never tried to fight back."

"You've got to be kidding. There's no way Naruto would sit back and let a couple of punks beat him up." Anko laughed before really looking at the boys' downward tilted faces. Her laughter died on the spot as a cold hand gripped her heart. "You're not kidding."

They shook their heads, and all was quiet for a moment until a low voice growled, "We should kill them."

Ibiki quickly latched on to her wrist and pulled her back. "Anko, no."

Iruka nudged Gai and whispered "start talking or we're going to need to hide bodies again" Gai nodded and quick jumped up and posed.

"Lee. He was a wonderful student, not the best but filled with youth and determination! Yet for some reason, kids didn't like him right away." Sasuke was drawn to the first memory of Naruto; even though he never spoke, everyone seemed to hate him right away.

"From what he's told me, he was walking home late when he heard a baby crying from an alleyway. Knowing my student, he wanted to help whoever was in trouble." Gai voice carried a hint of pride.

"There wasn't a baby in sight, but a man was standing in the alleyway looking very suspicious. Lee came close enough to see blood on the man's hands.

"He shot Lee in the knee and ran off.

"Lee was put through a lot of surgery. He was told he'd never fully recover from the wound and was advised to quit martial arts." Suddenly Gai's teeth gave out two thousand megawatts of light and he pumped his fist in the air like a boxer. "But Lee refused! He came to my class everyday and often stayed after to practice by himself. Eleven years later, he defied the doctors and was back on his feet!"

"He goes to schools as a motivational speaker. Here! I have a picture of him." Gai pulled out his wallet and removed the picture to pass among the boys.

A mini version of Gai grinned brightly at the camera giving the photographer thumbs up.

Next to Lee was a smaller boy with an uneven red haircut and his eyelids were dark from lack of sleep. Lee had an arm wrapped around the smaller boy, pulling him close to his side. The redhead's gaze was at Lee instead of the camera, and his lips were raised slightly in what looked like the beginning of a smile.

Chouji handed the picture back to Gai, who smiled fondly at the picture.

"That's him; the boy next to him is a dear friend of his, Gaara. They met when Lee was giving a speech to his school. I suppose the boy was very impressed with Lee." Suddenly Gai's smile turned sheepish as he gently slid the picture back in his wallet. "Sorry. I love to dote on my student."

There was a pause of silence before Hayate cleared his throat and leaned forward. "I guess I should finish it up then."

Gai nodded and Hayate rubbed his hands together to stimulate some warmth.

"Well, I was one of the first cops on the scene. We were trying to calm Minato down and get him off the bridge railing safely. At the time we thought he was a suicide jumper. I got close enough and we spoke briefly."

Hayate smiled lightly and rubbed his hand against his chest. "I remember being surprised at how calm he seemed. That is, until he stabbed me right in the lung.

"My partner quickly restrained him and I almost died from a punctured lung. Luckily, they come in pairs. I was there on the court trail as an eyewitness, along with everyone else here; in fact that's how most of us met." Hayate looked up and smiled at his friends and they quickly returned the favor.

"Minato refused to pled insanity, even though the punishment would have been severely reduced; he felt what he had done was right.

"He was put on death row and after six years the death penalty was carried out, and we each received a copy of his manuscript. It had been carried out according to his will. Even Naruto received a copy. I believe he was about six or seven."

Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Chouji eyes widened. So Naruto truly was an orphan.

"So with the man who killed or harmed our loved ones dead, what were we to do?" Asuma spoke up from his spot. He looked down at his hands and frowned.

"All we had was this story he recreated, our worst nightmare, that pointed out who was really to blame for all our pain."

"But we were wrong," Iruka quickly spoke in defense of Naruto.

Asuma nodded in agreement. "He is neither a monster nor murderer of any sort."

"Still, he blames himself," Kakashi responded quietly his voice laced in guilt. "We didn't do anything to stop that assumption."

Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow and asked. "That doesn't make sense. He can't still blame himself; not after he figured out the story wasn't true."

Iruka shook his head solemnly. "Ah, but your forgetting. When kids learn for the first time, they believe everything. Certain rules stick in their head. If you step on a crack you'll break your mothers back. Or that there are monsters sleeping under your bed." Iruka gave a short laugh and asked, "If you think I'm wrong, then tell me why Naruto refuses to sleep on a mattresses? I've never seen him sleep on anything other than hard floors."

"He slept in my bed." Everyone, including Chouji and Shikamaru, twisted to look at Sasuke. Sasuke squirmed uncomfortably under their gaze and wished he hadn't said anything. He cleared his throat and tried to direct the topic elsewhere. "Why didn't he just tell us in the first place? Why hide all this?"

The knowing smiles quickly transformed into looks of disbelief. Tsunade shook her head and said, "Oh my God, he really is an idiot."

"Well, at least he's well suited for Naruto then." Everyone turn to stare at Jiraiya, who offered them a forced shrug. Tsunade said nothing but her smile was identical to Gai's after running a marathon.

Shikamaru cleared his throat and drew attention away from Jiraiya. "So you're saying he didn't trust us."

Anko rolled her eyes and quickly responded. "No, idiot, that's not the problem! Damn, and he said you were the smart one."

"He talked about me?" Shikamaru looked a little embarrassed and pleased at the same time.

"Talked! We can't get him to shut up! 'Chouji's team won again'. 'Shikamaru aced another test'. 'Chouji's dad makes the best sandwiches'. I mean, at first it was nice having him finally open up and tell us what was happening at school. But listening to that crap day in and day out about you boys makes me wanna tape his mouth shut."

Sasuke's eye twitched, noticing his name was left out from Naruto's praises. The adults seemed to be pointedly ignoring him.

"Course, we think he deserves better then you three." Asuma's comment held no hate or malice, but clearly held his distaste for the boys. "But that's not our decision to make."

Iruka's forehead wrinkled as he checked his watch for the time. "It's getting late; how about we drop you boys home and you think it over for the weekend?"

Shikamaru and Chouji quickly agreed to the offer but Sasuke shook his head.

"My house isn't that far from here, I can walk it."

Iruka frowned, his eyes held a glimmer of concern as he stared at Sasuke.

"You really shouldn't go by yourself."

Unfamiliar warmth seeped into Sasuke's chest and he wondered if Naruto also felt this burst of happiness whenever his father figure worried for his well being.

"I'll take this maggot home." The burst of warmth was suddenly sucked dry from Sasuke when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He looked up to see Anko with an ugly grin.

Iruka seemed hesitant at the idea. Sasuke might be safer alone than in Anko's guardianship. "Anko, I don't know if that's a good idea."

But the woman was already steering the petrified boy away from the group.

Sasuke felt a cold sweat drip down his back as Anko's hand tightened. She seemed to notice his discomfort and smirked. "Relax kid. There's one more part to the story you need to hear."

They walked another three blocks before Anko steered Sasuke away from the main road and towards a small playground. When they neared the swings Anko released her hold and sat down on one of the seats. Sasuke followed her cautiously and sat on the swing beside her.

"Do you like your parents, Sasuke?" The blunt question caught Sasuke off guard and he gave her a half shrug, not really knowing the answer himself.

Anko pushed backwards and let her toes drag along the ground leaving two parallel lines. "I hated mine."

Anko bowed her head to stare at the marks she left before pushing the playground pebbles around to smooth them over. "Listen, I'd rather this didn't get back to the others. It's something I've been keeping a secret for myself."

Sasuke nodded and held still on his swing waiting for Anko to reveal whatever she considered a secret.

"Okay, see everyone lost something important to them that day, but I was the only one to gain something." Anko exhaled loudly and nervously licked her lips.

"I was the one who found him."

She glanced up to see Sasuke watching her with a confused face. She straightened up from her crouched over position and began to lightly sway back and forth.

"Okay, let me try again. Like I said, I hated my parents, I hated school, and, well, I pretty much hated everything. I found a way to get away from my parents and school, but everything else was hard to ignore. Life was good for awhile. I went where I wanted and did what I wanted. Then I met this guy, and for the first time there was a man in my life who wasn't trying to get in my pants. He was kind and understanding, he took me in and never asked anything of me." Anko said this in one breath as if trying to get it out in one go. She paused long enough to inhale and slowed down her words to a more natural rhythm.

"One night he took me to this club and he asked his friend Kabuto, the bartender, to take care of me and make sure no one hit on me, then he left to do some business. I ordered a drink, and after that I can't remember."

Anko's mouth went slack and her eyes went strangely blank. "I woke up the next morning, naked, in some guy's bed."

Her hands tightened on the swing's chain and she began to push herself from the ground with a little more force. "Orochimaru was horrified. He blamed himself, made a huge deal saying he'd find the man who hurt me.

"It happened again and again, all at the same bar, right after I got a drink from Kabuto." Anko sent a kick towards the ground and a spray of rock took flight and landed on the grass a yard away. "Should have stayed in school, maybe then I could have connected the dots, but all I could think of was how Orochimaru was protecting me.

"He was never protecting me; he was selling me for a good fuck." Anko seemed to lose steam and she stopped pumping her legs and let the gravity do the work for her.

"He and Kabuto were in on it. Orochimaru would drop me off at the bar and Kabuto would give me a drink drugged with his new experimental roofies. They'd sell me for a high price and then split the money without ever having to pay off their whore." The swing was slowing down now, and Sasuke kept his eyes on Anko's face. "I ran away when I found out. I wasn't thinking straight at the time. Maybe I could have brought him to the police."

Anko's feet hit the ground, making the swing jerk sideways. "I ended up in some alleyway, thinking about how much I wanted to die."

Anko forced the swing to come to a dead halt; she glanced up and looked Sasuke straight in the eye. He held her gaze and tried hard not to flinch from her piercing eyes. "Lowest moment of my life, kid. You can't get much lower than that."

She turned away and moved her feet a little to sway back and forth again.

"That's when I heard a baby crying."

Anko leaned backwards, using the strength in her arms to keep her balance.

She looked up at the sky and smiled. "At first I thought it was from the apartments above, but it was too close, almost right next to me."

She straightened up and twisted the chains so she was facing Sasuke directly. "And that's how I found Naruto, hidden in a dumpster."

**Trash belongs in the trash.**

"Minato must have hidden him there when he heard Lee coming."

**Because you called me trash.**

"Naruto would have been left for dead if I hadn't found him."

**If being your friend means being reminded that I'm trash, then I'd rather be alone.**

Sasuke's mouth went dry and he struggled to breath. His stomach tightened so suddenly that he had to lean down and wrap his arms around it was to protect it. The pain from his stomach bubbled up his throat and pushed upward until a word forced itself upward nearly chocking him. "N-Naruto!"

"Crap kid, you're not crying are you!" Sasuke could barely hear her. His breath grew choppy and he felt moisture gather in his eyes. He quickly hid his face inside the fold of his jacket.

"Shit. Shit, listen, um, it's okay?" Anko awkwardly patted his back, but only managed to knock the wind out of him. She tore the jacket away from his face, forcing him to look at her. "It's alright to feel guilty; guilt is a good thing, okay! It shows you who you don't want to be and stops you from making the same mistake twice."

Sasuke bit down on his tongue and forced himself to calm down. Anko stared down at him and watched his face grow red with effort.

"You care about him, huh?" Her voice held a hint of curiosity as if amazed by this discovery. Sasuke gave a short nod not daring to use his voice at the moment. Anko's face softened and she looked back at the sky with a peaceful smile. "Well, if you really do care, then you'll figure out a way to make things right again."

"Finish your story." Anko looked back down to see Sasuke watching her with red rimmed eyes; she was struck by the sheer intensity directed at her. "What happened after you found him?"

Anko nodded and began to speak again. "So there I was with a baby fresh from the dumpster, with blood running down his cheeks, bawling his eyes out.

"I may have hated myself at the moment, but even I couldn't leave a baby to die; even I'm not that heartless." Anko could feel Sasuke's eyes on her and tried not to let them distract her from finishing the story.

"I took him to the hospital. What must have the nurses been thinking, someone arriving with a baby and covered in blood? I must have looked like a battered wife." Anko let out a short bark of laughter, but then her face grew hard again as she carefully thought out her next words.

"See, this is why I know Naruto isn't a monster.

"Maybe all that shit happened because he was born, but then how do you explain me?" Anko turned back to Sasuke, who seemed to have finally calmed down.

She opened her mouth to continue but was suddenly struck by the memory of baby Naruto curled in her arms, pressing into her chest for warmth. She could even remember how he looked up at her with sleepy eyes and how, for the first time, the need to protect surged though her worn-out body, giving her a unknown source of energy. Protect an innocent being who had been thrown away like week old trash, and until she was sure the baby was safe there was no way she could kill herself.

"If Naruto had never been born, then I would be dead right now."

Sasuke shuffled his feet on the ground. His head felt heavy, as if filled with bricks, and he felt too tired to lift his head up. "Do you think he hates me now?"

Anko flinched and was abruptly drawn back to reality. She bit her cheek and made a sucking noise through her lips. "Hate is such a strong word; I'd say it's more like he really, really, really, really, really hates you."

Sasuke felt the pressure in his head increase and the need to cry clawed at his eyes. Anko felt a tiny pang of guilt when she saw how her words affected the boy.

She tried to think of something that would cheer him up since she didn't need a hormonal teen bawling his eyes out. "You know he talked about you the most."

Sasuke looked up with surprise as a tiny sliver of guilt escaped without his notice. Anko saw his hopeful eyes and tried to recall the conversations she had when Naruto came bouncing home from school.

"He'd do impressions of you when you'd glare at people who even looked at him wrong. And how you were the first person to ever invite him to a sleepover. It's too bad we didn't video tape the conversation of you guys on the phone, it was hilarious! He even asked if there was a certain way to invite friends over for sleepover because he didn't want to mess it up."

Anko watched as a sad smile tugged against Sasuke's lips before he bowed his head down and let his bangs cover up his face.

Fearing another sob fest, Anko quickly jumped to her feet and stood in front of the boy. "Get up."

Sasuke's head snapped up and he opened his mouth to speak but Anko quickly cut him off. "You're not going to fix anything by sitting there crying. So I'm going to teach you how to fight."

Sasuke pushed himself off the swing and frowned at her comment. "I already know how to fight."

Anko rolled her eyes and made a loud buzzing noise with her mouth. "What you know is how to beat up a defenseless kid who won't lift a finger to protect himself."

Anko ignored the way Sasuke flinched at her comment, and she barreled on regardless. "Naruto's not going to let you get away with that shit anymore, so make a fist."

Sasuke sighed and followed her orders by holding his arm out and curling his fingers to make a fist.

Anko tilted her head and then abruptly slapped his clenched hand.

"Wrong! Never put your thumb over your fingers, that's the easiest way to break it." She grabbed his hand and forced the thumb down at an awkward angle. "Tuck it down lower. When you punch, use the bones of your fingers, like dagger knuckles."

Sasuke snatched his hand away, not liking how his fighting skills were being criticized. "How is this going to help! Do you want me to hurt him?"

Anko snorted at the idea and pulled his hand out further to move the thumb in the correct position. "Hurt him? Ha! I'm teaching you how to defend yourself. I told you Naruto's not going to let you walk over him again, so if you want to have a serious talk with him be prepared to get smacked around a little."

Anko took her hands away and hovered them above Sasuke's fist. "Are you willing to do that for him?"

Sasuke stared at his hand; he could remember the power he felt as he slammed it into Naruto's unprotected stomach. How the boy refused to fight back and allowed Sasuke the sick pleasure of hurting him.

The boy said nothing, but moved his thumb so it was tucked under his fingers; Sasuke looked up at Anko, awaiting her next instructions.

Anko grinned down at him. It had been awhile since she'd had a student.

She cracked her knuckles with glee and flashed him an unpleasant grin. "Good! Then let the bloodbath begin!"

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**I hope you all remember my repetitive use of the word 'trash'**

**How you like them apples?**

**Couple things I like to point out-**

**#1 getting hit directly on the nose will give you two black eyes (it got to be a really good solid punch) **

**#2 despite Gai personality I really do believe that if Lee was injured beyond repair that Gai would not be able to forgive Naruto-I'm using the excuse as to why he's out of character, I give major props to people who can get his personality right(I bet you thought I'd kill Lee! Do you know nothing about me? I'm STILL getting over Obito's death! Why would I kill off an amazing character like Rock Lee?)**

**#3 my distant cousin had ****ovarian ****cancer when she was thirteen. She went though the treatments and is cured now but the doctors warned her that her chances of living through a pregnancy are very very low.**

**#5 I use to babysit the seed of chucky that was not only a hemophilia but also had ADHD. Ya just imagine the hell I survived.**

**#6 I googled my penname and holy fuck…there are people in Russia who read my stories…..wow**

**#7 Obito my hero!! Look look pretty original no? I couldn't think of a way to transfer an eye and make it work in the story but then I thought **_**blood**_**line hmmm. Ya I know im bloody brilliant.**

**#8 Anko story was the hardest to write, I don't know why I keep mentally and physically harming my favorite characters. I hope you liked the twist of Anko being the one to find Naruto on the trash**

**#9…. I still like list**

**You guys were pretty close in guessing the objects, no one got Lee's weights right. I thought that was going to be the easy one, but then again I knew the answer so my guess is kind of pointless huh? Anyway, I really hope you guys like the chapter and forgive me for the late update.**

**peace**

**sam**


	16. Heavens been erased

**Hey faithful readers, a lot has happened since the last chapter!**

**I have some pictures of me dressed as Naruto at the NY-comic con. Please check them out on my profile and praise me for my Naruto-ness. **

**Just to clear up this chapter a bit the first scene take place before chapter two (meaning before the stories initial beginning) I haven't set up an precise time line from when Naruto first fought back to this current chapter. So the flashback time period is a bit iffy. Sorry if that's confusing.**

**On another note- I'm going to use the magic of fanfiction so I can skip over Anko teaching Sasuke how to fight. I did actually write the scene but after it was done I realized it wasn't funny or even interesting …so delete! **

**As always I want to smother my beta, angstkitten, with love for beta this chapter.**

**And the last comment I want to make about this chapter….I HATE IT! Maybe it's because I'm getting close to the end or because it's so short but really don't like how this chapter came out.**

* * *

**Sticks and Stone**

**Chapter 16-Heavens been erased**

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_Thou callest me a dog before thou hast cause.  
But since I am a dog, beware my fangs._

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_Eight months ago_

Small fingers looped around the thick chalk stick and pressed the sharp edge into the sidewalk, causing small pieces to break away and form a shaky line that curved around to create a sloppy circle. The owner of the fingers blew softly on the chalk dusting and examined his work with a critical eye; the two circles still weren't perfect, but they would do for the time being. He raised the chalk again and placed a white dot in both of the circles before moving off to the side and quickly writing down Konohamaru off to the side of the picture.

Konohamaru shifted slightly and would have began the same process over again if a scuffed-up shoe hadn't suddenly stepped on his fresh artwork, thus smearing the lines. He looked up and scowled at the owner of the shoe before trying to shove the offending foot away and salvage the last of his art. He was met with no resistance but was disappointed to see his beautiful drawings destroyed.

"Sorry! I didn't see you there! Whatcha drawing?" Although the voice above him sounded sincere enough, he didn't care to look up and see. It was only when the person suddenly squatted down beside him and used his finger to smear the drawing even more, that Konohamaru answered back.

"Boobs." He waited for laughter that was sure to come, but the other boy only let out a soft hum and tilted his head to the side to get a better look at the drawing.

"They don't look like boobs," the boy responded smartly. Konohamaru crushed the bit of chalk between his fingers and growled as it broke in two.

How dare he, you could clearly see the two biggest boobs ever drawn!

"Shut up! What do you know?" He bowed his head and started on another set of boobs. Hopefully the kid would get the hint and leave him alone.

He tensed up when the blond boy knelt beside him and a finger pushed its way into his view to poke the sidewalk drawing. "It looks like two plates with olives in the middle."

Konohamaru gritted his teeth and opened his mouth to retort, but the hand moved quickly and grabbed his discarded chalk and began to draw. "Here, if you make a W first and then draw two tiny circles at the bottom…. Ta-dah! Perfect boobs!"

Konohamaru blinked and stared at the older boy's drawing. It did in fact resemble boobs; gigantic boobs in fact. He turned to stare at the boy who was kneeling beside him with a grin that could rival any child's smile and found his lips twitch into a smile as well.

The blond boy stood up and stretched, and Konohamaru found himself mimicking the older boy's movements. The boy stopped and raised an eyebrow at Konohamaru. "What are you doing?"

Konohamaru's eye twitched as he attempted to raises his eyebrow as well. "Following the leader!"

The older boy frowned and took a step back. "Me? Leader?"

Konohamaru quickly took a step forward not understanding the boy's confusion.

"Yeah, like the game! You're the leader!"

"What game?"

"You've never played follow the leader?"

The older boy shook his head and now it was Konohamaru turn to be confused. Didn't everyone play that game at least once? Not wanting to be the one to explain the rules of the game, the younger boy decided to choose a simpler explanation.

"Well, we can't be friends, you're too old! So that makes you the leader!"

Konohamaru was startled when older boy's confused expression turned gloomy and tried one last time to form some kind of relationship. "I take it back! I want to call you 'boss' instead!"

The blond boy seemed to brighten up and nodded eagerly and plopped back down on the sidewalk. Konohamaru quickly followed and sat down in front of the strange boy. He watched as the boy grabbed the chalk with child-like delight to draw an arrow and sign his name next to the boobs.

Konohamaru squinted trying to read the messy signature.

"You're name is Tsunade?"

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_Eight months later_

Moving at a sluggish pace, Sasuke winced as his backpack dug into the new bruise on his shoulder. He still didn't know who to blame for that particular bruise, probably a little of both, plus the fifteen pound backpack wasn't helping the matter at all.

He had been lucky all weekend, and escaped any questioning about his black eyes. This was due to his parents' absence and the fact that Itachi was still trying to figure out why he continuously smelled like old cheese. Sasuke made a mental note to pick up more cream cheese after school.

Not wanting to waste another minute in his house, he left early and decided to do his homework before class started. He scanned the school yard for a nice safe spot away from prying eyes and eventually decided the bleachers next to the soccer field was the best choice. He quickened his pace, anticipating the moment he would get to drop his backpack and find some relief.

He turned the corner and carelessly swung his bag and dropped it on the bottom bleacher causing it to whack against the metal and smacking into the side of a small blond boy sitting on the bottom step.

Sasuke immediately took several steps back as Naruto glared at the offending backpack before shifting up to Sasuke with a defiant stare. Naruto held his gaze a few seconds before looking down and focusing on a small white object in his hand.

Feeling a bit braver, Sasuke took a small step forward and waited for some kind of verbal abuse which never came. Naruto resumed picking at the white object clearly, ignoring Sasuke's presence.

Sasuke felt his eye twitch as he recognized the small item to be an egg.

"What are you doing out here?" Sasuke slowly crept forward, cautious with each step. Naruto ignored the question and continued to peel his egg.

Feeling even braver, Sasuke stood directly in front of the seated boy, looking down at the small figure. "Naruto, we need to talk."

"Should I get the trashcan ready?" Naruto asked softly with no malice or spite laced in his voice. Sasuke felt his stomach clench but took a deep breath and pushed forward. "Anko asked me to tell you something."

Sasuke waited for Naruto to give some sort of reaction, but the boy merely lifted his hand and picked out a tiny eggshell that was trapped under his nail. Sasuke waited another second before blurting out the strange sentence the woman had forced him to repeat over and over till he got it right. "She told me to tell you that her sleeping potion is just warm water. I don't know what that means, but that's what she said."

Naruto's face twitched and a tiny chuckle escaped from his mouth. Encouraged by the laugh, Sasuke moved a little closer and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, which tensed under his touch. "She also wanted me to tell you something important about the day you were born when your father left you in the dumpster."

"Shut up," Naruto snarled, and his eyes narrowed into little slits. He moved his shoulder to escape Sasuke's hand, but the other boy held on tightly and dug his fingers into the blond's shirt.

"Someone must have found you, right? To bring you to the hospital and get your cuts treated." Sasuke reached out and brushed the scars lightly with his fingertip. Naruto flinched and quickly pulled away from his touch.

"I don't want to hear this."

Sasuke winched at the volume of Naruto's, voice but he used both hands to steer the boy so he was forced to face him. "It was Anko; you saved her life!"

Naruto's eye widened as he stared up at Sasuke. The silence dragged out between them until Naruto looked down and return to peeling his egg. "What do you want from me?"

Sasuke took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. But it was difficult when his thumb grazed against Naruto's neck and he could feel the warm skin against his fingers. His throat went dry when he felt the tan skin pulse as Naruto swallowed hard and took short breaths of air.

Feeling braver, Sasuke stroked the warm skin beneath his thumb and was rewarded with a tiny shiver as the skin grew hotter from his touch. He slowly shifted his fingers so they could all touch a slice of skin. He then used his thumbs on either side of Naruto's jaw to tilt the boy's blushing face upward and finally asked, "Naruto, you like me, right?"

"No." Naruto answered quickly, with no hesitation, but Sasuke was not discouraged. He took a long breath and tried again.

"You like me more than a friend should, right?" He took a small step forward so that now he was standing in between Naruto's legs. All his weight was centered on leaning against Naruto's shoulders which pushed the boy back until the edge of the metal bleacher was pressing into his back.

Naruto titled his head upward and stared at Sasuke with an uneasy frown. He slowly raised his right hand and placed it delicately on Sasuke's shoulder. The boy glanced at the tan hand before turning back and giving Naruto a half smile.

Naruto's hand tightened on Sasuke's shirt and he pulled the boy down roughly, and with his left hand smashed the unpeeled egg in Sasuke's mouth.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he gagged as the egg was forced down his throat. He nearly threw up as his gag reflexes forced the whole egg to shoot back up his throat. Naruto quickly used the distraction to escape Sasuke's hold and barely avoided being sprayed with regurgitated egg.

Sasuke gasped, finally feeling his air pipes cleared up, but before he could stand up, a sudden pressure on his lower back knocked him over onto the ground. Even with his face planted in the ground, he could hear Naruto's snickers and cruel jab. "Blow it out your ass."

Sasuke raised his head to see Naruto sauntering away with a hop in his step. He watched the boy enter the building and never even glance back to check on him. Sasuke cursed and looked down to see that Naruto had pushed him directly into the pile of egg that he had just spat up.

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Halfway through study hall, the sound of a textbook caused everyone in the room jump before settling back down in their seats with a grumble.

Naruto had jumped as well, but was able to stifle his scream when he felt someone slid next to him and asked with a bored voice, "Did you understand problem eleven?"

Shikamaru ignored Naruto's stiff position and placed one elbow on the desk and cradled his face in his hand. "It's a trick question; instead of using the formal formula to get the solution you have to go backwards and plug in the information and the solution to find the grams."

"Go away."

Despite himself, Shikamaru felt a shiver run down his body at the sound of Naruto's cold voice. Nevertheless, he tried looking as calm as possible while riffling through his own textbook. He pushed the book between them and opened to the current chapter. "No can do. I'm your tutor; you asked me for help."

"Well I'm un-asking it. I don't need your help," Naruto hissed and pushed the textbook away from him.

Shikamaru frowned and moved the textbook closer to Naruto only to have it pushed away again. "How troublesome. If you didn't need, my help why did you ask me?"

"I was failing and you were just convenient at the time. But now you are useless to me."

"Useless?" Shikamaru stopped the childish fight as Naruto's words left a sharp pain in his heart. He cleared his throat and tried to act as if the words hadn't affected him. "So you're saying our friendship was just convenient for you at the time?"

Too late, Naruto already caught sight of Shikamaru's stunned face. He spoke quickly and tried not to think too hard about the words coming out of his mouth. "What friendship? I only pretend to like you guys so you'd stop picking on me."

Shikamaru said nothing and stared at the blond boy. Naruto struggled to breath normally. He forced himself to smirk and let out a convincing chuckle. "What, you think anyone actually likes you? Geez, your supposed to be the smart one, but you can't even see that that's the only reason people are acting nice is so they can use you.

"Plus, you're so desperate for people to like you that you let them walk all over you." Naruto tugged Shikamaru's textbook out of his hands and reached in his pocket for a small jar.

He moved silently and opened the jar while talking quickly to distract the boy. "I almost feel sorry for you."

Naruto paused to let the words sink in. He used the time wisely by shoving the white gunk from the jar between the pages. Satisfied with his work, Naruto closed the textbook and shoved it back between them. He felt a tiny sense of relief when he realized that Shikamaru was facing away from him. That made it much easier to lie. Naruto folded his arms behind the back of his head and smirked. "You mean nothing to me, so do me a favor: get over yourself."

"You were my friend." Naruto's eyes snapped up at the sound of Shikamaru's strangled voice, but he didn't dare look at the boy.

Shikamaru laid his head in the folds of his arms and looked away from Naruto. "I should have asked you first if the story was true before making assumptions. I'm sorry; you're my friend but I didn't trust you."

"I'M NOT YOUR FRIEND!" Naruto's head snapped to the side and he finally looked straight at Shikamaru. A few students turned around at Naruto's shout and the teacher shot them a disapproving look. Naruto blushed and quickly lowered his voice to a whisper. "If I had known all this friendship stuff was bullshit, I would have never gone through with it."

The heavy feeling in his chest suddenly grew lighter. Shikamaru grinned slightly and leaned back in his chair. "So you admit we were friends at one point."

"No!" At this point, even Naruto's ears were turning red

Shikamaru grinned cockily and raised on eyebrow. "Then what made you save Chouji from getting hit by a car?"

Naruto calmed down a bit and the redness slowly began to leave his face. He crossed his arms and stared at the clock willing it to move faster. There were only a few minutes left anyway, and Naruto was determined to speak as little as possible. "What, and sit back and let my reputation as a murder grow?"

A wrinkle formed on Shikamaru's forehead as he noticed his time with Naruto was quickly running out. "Naruto, do you remember your first friend?"

The blond boy said nothing and began packing his backpack. Shikamaru struggled to try again "Was it someone at the orphanage?"

Still no response. Shikamaru wracked his brain and recalled one of Iruka's students who had been attached to Naruto. "That Konoha kid, was he your first friend?"

"Konohamaru," Naruto mumbled without thinking. After realizing his mistake, he stood up and shoved Shikamaru's textbook into the boy's chest. "Here's your book back, by the way."

He watched as Naruto spun around and walked away. With a frown, Shikamaru tried to open the textbook only to hear the sound of pages being ripped.

He glanced down in surprise and examined the textbook before a small smile crept over his lips. They had a chance. Yes it was slim and almost impossible, but there was a small fraction of hope.

And the evidence lay right before him; a textbook super glued shut.

Contrary to what people may assume, the opposite to love is not hate. Both emotions require a strong feeling of attachment.

The opposite of love is indifference.

And if Naruto had taken the time to plot and devise a way, then that proved his feelings towards Shikamaru were anything but indifference.

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Chouji knew the right thing to do was to tell an adult. That's what everyone was taught even before school: if someone is hurting you, then you should report it to an adult. So why was he using his math book to hide the writing carved on his desk?

Chouji moved his textbook a little and caught the beginning of the word. He waited until the teacher had her back turned before slowly lifted the book and staring at the message.

'Fatass' was carved deeply into the wood.

A snicker came from behind him and Chouji closed his eyes. It was just a word. Why should one little word cause him so much pain?

He opened his eyes and tried to focus on the lesson, but a sharp pain erupted on the back of his neck. Without thinking, Chouji turned around to see Naruto smirking at him.

He watched as Naruto reached into his jacket and pulled out a penny. Naruto maintained the smile as he balanced the penny on his thumb and then placed his middle finger on top of it. Chouji opened his mouth to ask what the boy was doing, but Naruto suddenly snapped his finger, causing the penny to shoot out and smack Chouji on his left cheek. Chouji's hand quickly covered the spot and winced at the lasting sting.

Naruto grinned and seemed to take pleasure in Chouji's pain. He slowly reached into his pocket and revealed a roll of pennies.

Chouji couldn't help but see the irony of the situation: the victim had become the bully and the bully was now the prey. Wasn't this what everyone was warned about, it was kids who get pushed too far and finally snap and climb on the roof to shoot students.

Chouji's heart stilled before he let out an easy sigh. Naruto wouldn't do that, he wasn't anything like those kids.

There were so many times where Naruto could have done something but decided against it. He called him a faggot and Naruto didn't so much as flinch. Even after all of that, Naruto still cared about Chouji's safety and had saved him from getting hit by a car on more than one occasion.

Chouji slowly mouthed the words, "I'm sorry I hurt you."

Naruto seemed to freeze as he stared at Chouji with wide eyes. Chouji could see a slight tremor in Naruto's hand that was holding the roll of pennies. Naruto's face seemed to pale and Chouji panicked for a moment, thinking the boy was going to pass out. He breathed a sigh of relief when Naruto calmed down. He continued to watch as the boy reached into his pocket again, this time pulling out a small plastic container filled with red liquid.

Chouji's jaw dropped as he watched Naruto break open the red plastic and proceed to smear the red gunk under his nose and on his desk.

Naruto stood up and called out to the teacher, "Excuse me! My nose is bleeding, can I go to the nurse?"

The teacher turned around and made a face of disgust but pulled open the drawer and retrieved the pass. Naruto quickly made his way to the front without even glancing at Chouji.

It was only after Naruto sprinted out of the room, that Chouji finally collected his thoughts and raised his hand. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Wait till Naruto gets back with the pass."

Chouji sighed and put his hand down, of course.

He shifted in his seat and glanced up at the clock to see there was still another forty minutes of class left. Chouji resisted the urge to slam his head against the desk and instead laid his head against the folds of his arms. He could vaguely hear the sound of ringing going off before the teacher began yelling about turning cell phones off in class.

Chouji's head snapped up and scrambled in his jeans pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He hid it under his desk and began pressing buttons and typing out a quick text message. When it was done he, pressed send and try to relax.

Hopefully the message would be received in time.

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This was not good. Naruto rubbed his face vigorously and washed away the fake vampire blood he had bought earlier that day at a party store. He had wisely opted to clean up in the bathroom instead of the nurse's office.

When all traces of the fake blood disappeared from his mouth, Naruto began working on the blood that had gotten in between his fingers. His anger grew as he slammed a hand against the soap dispenser and attacked the stubborn stains.

Where was the change? He was supposed to be in control now! But when Chou-, no, the fatass started apologizing, he zapped all the fun out. And what was with the nerd's questions; who was his first friend?

Naruto looked up and saw his reflection staring back at him with tired eyes. Acting on impulse, he flicked water at the mirror to distort the image, but the droplets clung together and dripped down the surface.

Naruto watched as his reflection cried.

"YOU…" He closed his eyes and drew his hand back into a fist. He mentally prepared himself for another seven years of bad luck before letting his clenched hand shoot forward. Naruto felt a second of satisfaction as his knuckles made contact with the mirror's surface. However, that satisfying moment was short lived when his elbow was pulled back, causing his intended punch to become nothing more than a hard tap.

Naruto felt something around his elbow tighten and opened one eye to look at his reflection. His double seemed to wince as well and tilted upward to see the dark blur standing behind him.

"…Dobe."

Naruto tensed up and the hand around his elbow began to turn him around. Just as Naruto broke eye contact with the mirror, he swore he could see his reflection mouth one word to him,

'Fuck!'

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**Ok who here thought I was going to have them kiss? Tsk tsk you should know me better by now.**

**Please don't ask me where I learned to draw boobs…I'm glad I changed the beginging to Naruto and konohamru's first meeting. Somehow I can see Naruto being more childish then konhamaru. **

**Like I said, I'm really disappointed with this chapter, it's too short and I jumped around during scenes**

**One more chapter people!! **

**Peace**

**sam**


	17. note

**Don't skip over this note!..oh wait actually the whole chapters a note…don't close this yet! This is where I'm suppose to apologies to my readers for being such a shitty author and for not updating. So let skip all that because we all know it's true and I have something more important to talk about.**

**I would like to make a deal with my readers-I would like to have my final chapter out by December which I know sounds far away but here are the benefits. I promise to make this chapter one of the greatest ending you've ever read. I will make you laugh, cry, curse, and all forms of emotions. I'll work hard to make this come true because I owe you people so much. I recently reread all my reviews (I had a bad day I needed an ego-boost) and I realized why I loved writing on fanfiction, all the messages I receive from people who enjoyed this story and can relate in some way or shape. I forgot about how reviews can make me cry and want to reach out to people. You are the reason I keep writing and try so hard. I'm sorry I've neglected my readers so much.**

**Ok so some of you are probably thinking 'that's great but why December if you love us so bloody much?' And here's my answer-Himebriny is making a doujinshi of Sticks and Stones along with her friends. Her site will be opening in December, which is why I want to make this my deadline. Oh and may I just say I am SO FUCKING EXCITED ABOUT THIS!! Every time I think about it I lose feeling in my fingers….maybe that's why I'm having trouble typing. So the last chapter will have a link going to her page, where you can find the doujinshi. I want to do this instead of posting it on my profile because I know most people don't go to the profile page and this way Himebriny can have the maxim amount of views**

**Ok so I promise to make this a great chapter AND a link to Himebriny webpage. The only other offer I can make is a video on my private youtube account thanking everyone (of course I would be dressed as Naruto) Which I don't mind doing but now that I think about it, it sounds a bit arrogant… **

**So these are my terms, I know some of you have forgotten this story because of the long updates but I want to make it up to you. So what do you think? Deal or no deal?**

**Peace**

**Sam**

**Oh ya, I recently went to anime fest this weekend and someone recognized me as lunabasketcase from the pictures I put on my profile. I just wanted to say whoever you are…..THANK YOU!! You made my day a million times better! I'd really like it if you could message me so we can swap pictures.**

**Oh and I will be going to another con in October in New Hampshire the 17-19…and yes the name is really 'another con' if anyone is going could you let me know?**


	18. It’s no better to be safe than sorry

**Important message to Himebriny-your profile does not allow others to message you anymore, could you send me a message with your email or edit your profile so I can message you? (this was the only way I could get your attention)**

**Hey there and welcome to the last chapter of stick and….DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOOK! I updated really close to December that should count for something ok? **

**As you can see by my early message the doujinshi site is not up yet, but I will edited this page and make a link so everyone can go visit it (please go visit it!!)**

**Also I made a video of myself (so self-centered I know) cosplaying as Naruto. The video is being loaded right now so hopefully by the time I post this it will be uploaded**

**Oh my I feel bad for those who skip the authors notes because….im about to write the best worst kissing scene ever created! I'm sorry im not a big fan of kissing! Its just ugg ok? Maybe its me but I always found kissing to be boring, so this chap may be a little different from what you're expecting. WHAT! Im a violent person by nature(or is it environment?), shouldn't you know this by now?**

**But that's besides the point! What I really hate is when author have a great plot going then ruin it because they all have the exact same scene, know this one?… **_**Blah blah blah suddenly Sasuke kissed Naruto deeply and passionately pouring his pent up feelings into the kiss and it was then Naruto realized that he loved Sasuke, he could taste strawberries blah blah blah**_**… Ok quick question have you ever kissed someone and felt their passion pouring into you? No? Me either and why the hell does everyone use strawberries?? (I just thought of another one **_**he quickly poured a generous amount on his fingers…**_**ha! I bet u all automatically knew where that scene came from! How come they never use the whole damn bottle? )and reality check here- problems arnt solved by kisses on the lips**

**Kisses on the neck….now that's another story**

**::goes into dreamstate::**

**wait bad Sam! I had a point to make! Focus dammit!! Ok what im saying is up to now my story has been pretty original…cage fighters-petitions for same-sex marriage- I even made Kakashi hemophilia! How many fics have u read like that! and now I want to create the best worst kissing scene, you up for it? Because here we go!**

**Sticks and Stones**

**Chapter 17- It's no better to be safe than sorry**

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_Don't be afraid  
I've taking my beating  
I've shared what I've been  
I'm strong on the surface  
Not all the way through  
I've never been perfect  
But neither have you_

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The two boys stood motionless, staring at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Naruto took a small step to the left and Sasuke quickly followed this motion. The blond paused and then scuffled to the right but Sasuke quickly moved along with him, slowly closing the gap between them. Naruto faked a step towards the right and tried to make a dash for the door.

"Stop trying to run dobe." Sasuke lunged and grabbed hold of the back of Naruto's shirt.

He watched as Naruto clenched his fist and started bringing his arm up. Sasuke blinked as he watched Naruto's body move and could see that Naruto was going to punch him. Sasuke shifted his weight to his right as Naruto pulled himself loose and swung around. Sasuke moved with Naruto's body and used the boy's energy to slide behind him. As he avoided the oncoming fist, he took a step forward, slung his right arm around Naruto's neck, and brought the raging boy against him.

"Calm down," he hissed against Naruto's neck.

Instead of listening, Naruto began to struggle and sent his remaining free hand toward Sasuke's groin. Sasuke caught the wild fist before it hit his mark and his left eye twitched, knowing how painful it would have been had he not caught it in time.

He strained to keep the fist under control. Naruto fought to pull it forward as he fought to pull it behind the boy's back. The struggle continued until Sasuke gave him a little leeway and allowed Naruto to pull his fist in front of him. Sasuke then quickly tugged it back resulting in Naruto punching his own stomach. The boy gasped and fell against Sasuke, leaning against him for support.

Sasuke held the boy tightly against his chest and spoke softly into his ear. "Now, have you calmed down?"

Naruto slumped into Sasuke, wheezing slightly, and after a second he gave a small but affirmative nod. Sasuke loosened his hold on the boy keeping one hand lightly touching the boy's shoulder as he turned to face Sasuke.

Naruto gazed at Sasuke with an unreadable look in his eye while, ever so slowly, he stepped forward, leaving little to no space between them. Sasuke leaned back warily and felt the bathroom wall press against his back. He watched as Naruto continued to move closer and raised a hand to cup Sasuke's face.

When Sasuke made no motion to move away, Naruto tightened his grip on Sasuke's face, and violently slammed the side of Sasuke's head against the hand dryer connected to the wall.

Sasuke dropped to the ground, clutching his head and letting out a small whimper of pain. He looked up and glared at the smirking boy standing over him. Even with the throb of pain settling into his head, Sasuke couldn't help but return Naruto's smirk, as if to accept his nonverbal challenge.

Naruto seemed startled as Sasuke reacted in an unexpected way. He blinked slowly and then just as if a switch had been turned, Naruto's body started to shut down. The smirk slipped off his face and pressed itself into a thin line, the corner of his eyes drooped down, and his shoulders hunched over.

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered looking up at the blank expression before him.

Without any warning, Naruto turned around and started walking towards the door. Sasuke groaned and struggled to climb to his feet while calling out to the retreating boy, "Naruto, wait a minute!"

Sasuke's demands were ignored as Naruto pulled open the bathroom door into the safety of the hallways. Sasuke managed to reach him just as he was stepping out of the bathroom, and tugged him back inside. "Goddamn it Naruto, listen to me."

Instead of jerking away, Naruto went limb in Sasuke's hands and leaned back slightly to rest his back against the door. His eyes were cast downward, staring at their shoes with little interest. Sasuke was slowly losing his patience as he shook the smaller boy and watched as Naruto's head flopped back and forth. Lost in his own anger, Sasuke didn't notice his grip on Naruto's arm was causing the skin to go red, nor did he notice how Naruto's back was pressed up against the metal pull bar of the door.

"Cut the bullshit!" Sasuke shouted and, without thinking, grabbed a fistful of Naruto's blond hair and forced the boy to straighten up and look directly at him. He pressed the boy against the door with too much force, as if expecting the other to resist. But Naruto did nothing but stare at Sasuke with dull, glazed over eyes.

Sasuke glared at the boy in front of him; this was not the Naruto he wanted. Not this lifeless body who allowed others to hurt him. A mantra began in the back of Sasuke's mind, which quickly picked up speed: 'Fight back, fight me, fight, fight, fight!'

Even with all the mental encouragement, the only sign of life within Naruto was the shallow intake of air and an occasion blink of the eyes. Sasuke felt his chest burn with rage; he began shaking Naruto, hoping to bring some form of emotion back into those lifeless eyes.

"You want to go back to the old ways? Fine! That's fucking fine with me!"

Sasuke grabbed the back of Naruto's shirt collar and dragged him towards the nearest toilet stall. He yanked open the stall and tossed him inside, quickly following. With a painful kick on Naruto's inner knees, he brought the boys to the floor. He wanted Naruto to fight back; if he just pushed a little further he knew he could break him out of this act of the helpless prey. Sasuke shoved the boys head in the toilet forcing his face past the waterline until the boy's ears were covered.

"Fight back, fight it, fight me!"

Sasuke reached forward and pulled down the handle to flush the toilet, letting the water drain away. His heart raced with delight as he felt power run though his veins. His mantra was forgotten as he chuckled, forgetting for a moment and enjoying the thrill of control he had taken.

"How's that? Is this what you want?" He leaned closer, anticipating what the boy's answer would be.

From within the bowl a tiny gasp echoed as Naruto choked on the filthy water.

Sasuke's eyes widen and he felt vomit rise up in his throat, he looked at his own hands which held Naruto inside the bowl.

"Oh shit, Naruto." Sasuke released Naruto and backed away, stunned to see the damage he had caused. "Naruto, I'm sorry."

As soon as Sasuke's hands let go of the wet boy, Naruto collapsed on the ground and lay motionless. For a moment Sasuke feared he had really hurt the boy; did Naruto hit his head too hard against the toilet rim? Why wasn't he moving? Sasuke bent down so he was level with Naruto eyes. He waited for Naruto to speak, yet still nothing happened.

Naruto wasn't getting up.

No matter what the situation had been, Naruto had always stood up and waited for the next blow. But now Sasuke watched his friend lay on the cold tiles of the boy's bathroom. The one with a terrible secret that he wanted to hide. The one who yelled in the middle of town square because he wanted a family. The one who constantly challenged Sasuke words, actions, and thoughts.

But at this moment, in Sasuke's presence, Naruto had done something he had promised the world he would never to do.

Naruto had given up.

Sasuke tugged on Naruto's shirt, forcing the boy closer to him and away from the wall. As the gap between them closed, Sasuke shifted his head so his cheek rested against Naruto whiskered one.

"Naruto." The boy slumped in his arms, Sasuke struggled to force the heavy limbs and prop the boy up against the stall's wall. He pulled the boy closer and tried to squeeze him dry.

The cold water dripped from Naruto's hair and soaked Sasuke's shirt, leaving him feeling both cold on the inside and outside. Sasuke's breath hitched as he felt Naruto's head drop onto his shoulder and rest against the junction of his neck. Slowly, so not to startle the boy, Sasuke pulled away and lifted up Naruto's face, hoping for some sign of life within the blue eyes.

Sasuke felt his heart tighten as Naruto stared back with his eyes glazed over, only moving when a droplet of water fell in his eyelashes. Sasuke gently raised a hand to brush away the water droplets gathering on the tips of Naruto's bangs.

He traced Naruto's eyebrows and let his fingers slide slowly down the boy's, face pausing to brush his thumb against the whiskered scars. He let his remaining fingers curl around the boy's chin and lifted it up so that the two boys were face to face before he started leaning in.

Sasuke hesitated, his lips a mere inch away from Naruto's, an invisible barrier keeping him from moving any closer. He took one last look at Naruto blank eyes before closing his eyes and leaning forward to bridge the gap between their lips

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto spoke flatly, the first words he had spoken since Sasuke had first arrived.

Sasuke froze and slowly opened his eyes to see Naruto's eyes flicker with anger before resuming their blank stare.

Sasuke licked his lips and noticed Naruto's eyes flicker down to watch before returning upward and staring blankly. "Kissing you." He leaned closer, enough to feel Naruto's shallow breath blow against his lips. Instinctively, he shut his eyes and closed the distance between them.

Something touched his lips, though it wasn't the soft gentle brush of skin he was expecting. No, it was more like a callous hand forcing its way in-between their lips and launching Sasuke away with tremendous strength. Enough to make the back of his head slam against the stall's wall.

"You can't go around kissing anyone you want!" Naruto shouted as he dug his nails into Sasuke's face. The boy winced but ignored the pain as he watched Naruto with narrowed eyes. Without warning Sasuke pushed the hand away and sprung forward and tackled Naruto.

Naruto wheezed as Sasuke's weight settled on his stomach. He used what little breath left in his lungs to growl, "Get off of me!"

"No." Sasuke caught the fist that flew at him as soon as he denied Naruto his freedom, and he quickly took hold of the boy's other hand and attempted to pin them over his head, but Naruto laced his fingers through Sasuke's and kept his arms bent at a ninety degree angle. Sasuke leaned all his weight on his arms trying to pin the boy down, while Naruto fought against gravity, pushing upward so his arms remained in the space between them.

"Let go!" Naruto snarled as he dug his nails into the back of Sasuke's hand.

"No, not until you listen to me." Sasuke calm response seemed to ignite Naruto's rage. He managed to slip a leg between their two bodies and push Sasuke with his foot, far enough away so he could reverse the position, now with Naruto on top. Sasuke, taken by the surprising turn of events, felt his arm buckle as his elbow gave out, allowing Naruto to pin his hands next to his head.

"Now you get to listen to me! Stay the hell away from me! I don't want to see your face or those other two assholes ever again, got it?"

With that, Naruto released Sasuke's hands and started to stand up, before he was abruptly pulled back down as Sasuke intertwined their fingers and held on so tightly that Naruto could feel the blood pulsing at the ends of his fingertips. Naruto stared down in wonder as Sasuke managed to trap him even though he sat on top of the boy.

Naruto leaned back and attempted to free his fingers but yelped as he was pulled back onto Sasuke. "W-what are you doing?!"

"No." The boy repeated. He tightened his grip and glared up at Naruto as if to dare him to pull away again.

"What do you mean 'no'? You're telling me no?" Naruto laughed and then winced when Sasuke squeezed his fingers again, clearly not amused at being laughed at. He pushed against Sasuke's arms and repined them to the ground, but Sasuke continued to smile smugly, having the upper hand from underneath. That is, until Naruto leaned over and scrunched up his face to gather all the excess saliva in his throat.

"Don't you dare." Sasuke tried to warn, hating how his voice grew weak as Naruto opened his mouth with a grin.

"HAAACCCKKK" A tiny line of drool dripped from his mouth and slowly descended to Sasuke face. The trapped boy struggled but found his efforts useless. In the end, Sasuke could only lay there going cross eyed as the spit came closer and closer to him. At the last moment, Naruto sucked the drool back and grinned evilly.

"Say you'll never come near me again."

"No!" Sasuke pressed his cheek against the marble floor and breathed out through his nose. After a few tortured seconds, he opened on eye to glance up. Naruto loosened his grip on Sasuke's wrist and leaned away settling his weight on Sasuke stomach.

"Why can't you just stay the hell away from me?"

Taking a chance, Sasuke managed to pull one hand loose. He reached up and grabbed the back of Naruto's head, and forced the boy down to meet his lips.

In life, one may experience many types of kisses. Soft, chaste kisses that barely brush over ones lips. There are also rough, passion filled kisses that bruise the mouth. However, with great kisses comes lots of experience; experience Sasuke had never gotten the chance to have. Teeth clashed against another causing an awful ache in their gums, noses were positioned incorrectly, so they were flattened painfully against one another.

But Sasuke refused to let go. Even when Naruto dug his dull nails into Sasuke's hand.

He opened his mouth against Naruto's, not to slip his tongue in since there was a fairly good chance Naruto would bite it off. He opened his mouth to speak against the lips. "I'm sorry."

Naruto stopped struggling to get away and stared in disbelief at the boy before him. He open his mouth to respond and felt the soft texture of Sasuke's lips brush against his as he spoke. "You're sorry?"

Sasuke felt a shiver run down his spine as Naruto lips rubbed against his own. Without thinking, he braced his hand against the floor and pressed closer, sealing their lips together. Naruto's eyes widened and he tried to lean back to disconnect their lips, but Sasuke followed his movements keeping their lips sealed and staring into Naruto's blue eyes with determination.

Naruto open his mouth to protest, but froze when he felt something wet trace along his bottom lip. Blood rushed to his face and he quickly twisted his head away and covered his mouth. "Stop that!"

Sasuke felt his own blush spread across his face and he tried to concentrate on his next words instead of staring at Naruto's covered mouth.

"Naruto, I mean it. I'm-" He was rudely interrupted as Naruto shoved against his chest causing his back to smack against the bathroom stall.

"I get it, you're sorry." Naruto rubbed his lips with the back of his hand, trying to wipe away the tingle that was lingering from Sasuke's kiss. "Do you think saying sorry makes me feel any better?"

Naruto paused when he saw Sasuke's eyes seem to be concentrated on his mouth rather than his words. Leaning over, Naruto spat into the toilet, drawing Sasuke's attention back.

"Forgive and forget, right? Here's the thing: I can't forgive you because I haven't forgotten a single thing you've done to me! You've humiliated me, scared off anyone who could be kind to me, pretended to be my friend, and stole my goddamn story!"

Naruto let out a low growl and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Worst of all, you made me doubt! Is he really my friend? Does he really like me? Should I say this? How should I act around him?"

Silence lapped over the two boys. Naruto glared at Sasuke, waiting for a response. Sasuke looked away and stared at the tiled floor beneath Naruto's hands. He watched as Naruto curled his fingers into a fist. Sasuke closed his eyes, readying himself for an incoming punch.

His eyes shot open as Naruto grabbed him by his shirt's collar pressed his face against the toilet's rim so he was staring into the water. Naruto used his left hand to grab a hold of the back of Sasuke's neck and press him closer towards the water so that his nose touched the water. He leaned forward and whispered into Sasuke's ear. "I'm so fucking sick and tired of caring what a sick prick like you thinks about me!"

With that, Naruto forced Sasuke's head into the water so that his entire face was submerged, leaving everything above his ears dry. But this was only a taste in what Naruto had prepared. He pulled on the back of Sasuke's head, pulling him away from the water but keeping his face within the toilet.

"How do you like it! How do you like to be-" The water surrounded Sasuke's ears cutting off the rest of Naruto's sentence, his lips met with the bottom of the toilet choking and gagging on the dirty water being forced though his nose. Panic shot through his body as he struggled to get out but Naruto's strength stopped him.

Never in his life, had Sasuke felt so helpless.

No sooner had this moment passed then the water suddenly disappeared around his ear and nose and then finally his mouth allowing his to take the first breath of air while the water line slowly reappear. The pressure on his head disappeared making him feel weightless for a second. Every fiber of his body wanted to wrench his head out of the toilet, but his mind wouldn't let him.

The heat from Naruto's body pulled away, leaving his own body feeling cold and slimy. He continued to cough and let out dry heaves, not able to supply his lungs with enough air to relieve the pressure in his chest.

Finally, Sasuke could gather enough strength in his limbs to pull his head out of the toilet and fell on his butt leaning his back against the side of the bathroom stall. He tenderly poked his nose and winced at the sting. He looked up to see Naruto sitting opposite of him with his knees pressed against his chest and his head laying on top of his folded arms. He gazed at the stall's door, not able to look at the boy he had just given a swirly.

Sasuke used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the stray drops of water caught on his lip. He leaned over and spat into the toilet trying to rid himself of the taste of dirty water. "That really hurt."

"Are you expecting an apology?" Naruto's words were muffled by his own arms. He unconsciously hid his fingers inside his sleeve as they tingled from power.

Sasuke let his hand fall and tilted his head upward, resting it against the wall and stared up at the florescent lights. "No, but for a second I thought you were going to kill me."

"Tempting but no," Naruto answered with a snort. He pulled his chin off his knees and stretched his legs out across the floor. "I'm not my father."

Sasuke swallowed deeply and nodded. He kept his gaze trained on the ceiling, but he could feel Naruto's eyes watching him. He resisted the temptation to move away when he heard Naruto inch towards him, wet jeans sliding across the floor.

He felt a warm gust of air blow against his neck as Naruto crouched in between his legs, balancing on the balls of his feet.

Sasuke clenched his neck muscles and instinctively pulled his head back to stare at Naruto, shielding his vulnerable neck away from Naruto's warm breath.

His wet bangs flopped against face, cutting off Naruto's intense glare. Sasuke flinched when Naruto reach forward and grabbed the front of his bangs and lifted them to expose Sasuke's entire face.

He swallowed and opened his mouth to speak, but Naruto's defiant stare stilled the words on his tongue. Sasuke scowled as fingers pulled at his hair, forcing him to tilt his face farther back, his eyebrows knitted together as he met Naruto's fierce eyes.

The muscles in Sasuke's shoulders tensed as he waited for Naruto to act upon whatever plan Naruto had created that put them at such an uncomfortable position. Finally, Naruto's hand tightened on Sasuke's hair as a warning as he swooped down to pressed his lips against Sasuke's mouth.

Sasuke froze as the wet lips pushed against him. The back of his head pressed against the wall and he felt the air from Naruto's nose blow out in short huffs. He blinked as blue eyes glared at him, demanding he do something before they started to regret the kiss.

Slowly, Sasuke tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss. He opened his mouth slightly and felt Naruto do the same, following his lead.

He started to close his eyes and watched through half lidded eyes as Naruto copied his actions, shutting his eyes tightly.

Feeling a little braver, Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto's tense back and pushed him closer so his precarious poise on the balls of his heels was unbalanced, causing the blond to fall forward and grab onto Sasuke's shoulders to regain balance.

Sasuke's smirked against Naruto's lips and gently sucked on the boy's bottom lip before letting his tongue lick the sensitive insides of the lip until Naruto's own tongue shyly came out to meet Sasuke's.

Sasuke ran his hands up and down Naruto's back, coaxing him to relax. Naruto in return, moved his hand up Sasuke shoulders and buried his fingers into the wet strands, and his fingers disappeared under the boy's thick black hair.

"You taste like shit and eggs."

"Shut up," Sasuke growled. He felt whatever pride he had gain from dominating the kiss slowly slip as Naruto's lips stretched out into an easy grin.

Just as he was about to reach over and kiss away that smirk, Naruto stood up and stretched out his fingers towards the ceiling. "Am I going to have to kiss and make-up with Shikamaru and Chouji, too?"

Sasuke stood up as well and pinned Naruto with his eyes. "No way in hell."

Naruto felt a strange thrill run down his spine. Wanting to feel it again, he continued to tease the boy. "I don't know; I bet Chouji tastes a lot sweeter then you what with all the candy he eats. Then again, Shikamaru always keeps his teeth nice and clean." As he spoke, Sasuke drew closer and closer to him and for the first time, Naruto realized how cramped it was having two boy inside a bathroom stall.

Naruto's back pressed against the wall as Sasuke moved closer so that their bodies lined up together and their foreheads were touching. His smile fell as he saw no humor shining in Sasuke's eyes. Naruto tilted his head and stared, trying to figure out what was going on. Sasuke did not seem angry nor did he look annoyed.

If anything, Sasuke seemed unsure, so he waited for Sasuke to say whatever he needed to say, but the boy was reluctant and seemed to be waiting for something.

"Sasuke? I was kidding. I don't want to kiss them, pinky promise." He held out his pinky as an offer, but Sasuke only shook his head and moved his lips slowly yet still said nothing.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. He watched Sasuke struggle to vocalize his thoughts and tried to lip-read for his friend.

Sasuke slumped his shoulder and tilted his head down allowing his bangs to cover his eyes.

It was not until he looked at Sasuke's body language that Naruto's eyes widened as he finally understood what Sasuke was struggling to say. With a small smile, he drew Sasuke towards him into a hug. The taller boy's hands clutched the bottom of Naruto's shirt, feeling the wet droplets run from the edge of Naruto's shirt and over his white knuckles until they finally dripped on the floor. He leaned into Naruto's hug and let go of the air trapped within his lungs in one long sigh.

Naruto rested his head on the base of Sasuke's shoulders and closed his eyes. He reached out with his right hand and drew a horizontal line with his fingertip that stretched out from Sasuke's left shoulder to his right. He then drew a vertical line down Sasuke's back feeling the tiny bumps as he pressed the boy's spine. When he reached Sasuke lower back, he drew another horizontal line over the end of his vertical invisible line.

_I_

He waited until he felt Sasuke nod against his shoulder before continuing to draw letters onto Sasuke's back, pausing between each letter and waiting for the other boy to give his nod of understanding before continuing on to the next letter.

_F-O-R-G-I-V-E_

Sasuke's chest tightened and Naruto readjusted his hold as Sasuke moved his arms to wrap around Naruto's lower back his hands wrapped around the boy drawing him closer so that their bodies molded together.

Naruto smiled as he remembered a time he held a red crayon to slowly spell out a word for a father he had never met.

How was he to know that, instead of receiving a blood father, he would gain two fathers who loved him, a couple of crazy cage fighting aunt and uncles, two bullies who became friends, and fall in love with his worst enemy?

He tilted his face and planted a small kiss on the side of Sasuke's jaw, and then slowly wrote the last unspoken word.

_Y-O-U_

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**I thought the boys' bathroom should be the last scene, since it all basically started there. Plus how could I resist the thought of making Sasuke's kiss taste like shit?**

**So here are some of my lessons. **

_**1) There are real monsters in the world. But they aren't always the people who hurt others. There are monsters who watch when people are being hurt and do nothing. Because they are scared, because they think it's funny, or sometimes they just don't care enough about the person to actually help. And guess what? It's the easiest thing in the world to become a monster.**_

_**2) If someone hurts you in anyway, don't let them get away with it. And don't fucking hold it in and put on a brave face. If you feel angry then let that person know it! If it really hurts you don't laugh it off, who are they to push you around? You don't deserve that kind of treatment. Don't be afraid to want more, and don't ever think that you're not worth respect, friendship or love**_

_**3 )Don't be afraid to reach out to people, it's scary as hell but worth it. Don't spend so much time in your head that you forget there could be someone out there for you. Speak up, words are powerful but they're worthless if you choice not to use them. **_

**I'm really glad i got the chance to do this, to my reviewers thanks for waiting so long and sticking with me. The friends I've made here I cant and won't forget you.**

**A special thanks to my two wonderful betas: Shenevine (chap. 4-9) and angstkitten (chap. 10-17)**

**Also a big thanks you to those who drew fanart for sticks and stones, please go to my profile and click on their links, they did a really great job **

_**Nyaron**_

_**Emi Sue **_

_**ObliviousTOyou**_

_**DalekGun07**_

_**S2kiss **_

_**Onyxvampire**_

_**Ima-phreak **_

_**Punky 4 you**_

_**Fishbird**_

_**Silent Dagger**_

**And of course I want to thank ****Himebriny and her friends for drawing a doujinshi for me. Please make the effort in checking out the site.**

**I want to also thank the many people who wrote to me, telling me of their own lives and things they have suffered. For telling me anything about your life- home life, school life, friends, enemies, mental and physical illnesses, sexual harassment, and losing the people you love. Showing me a world I would have never known about. Thank you for trusting me with your secrets.**

**Lastly thank you to everyone else; the reviewers and readers who actually read the authors notes (seriously the notes are long as hell! I can't believe anyone would read them all the way through!) Thank you for your support and kind words of encouragement. Thank you for giving me this chance **

**Peace and love,**

**Sam**

_°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ The End_ _°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸_


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